girl you look delicious (oh i mean gorgeous)
by keep-swinging
Summary: One-shot series revolving around Zed and Addison. Sporadic updates, one-shots will have varying lengths from drabbles to longer stories. Rating may (and probably will) change as story progresses. Prompts and ideas welcomed! / New Update! Chapter 16: The werewolves bring her peace, but so does Zed.
1. React

~Author's Note~

After about a day of consideration, I've decided to create a one-shot series for Zombies. You guys seemed to really enjoy my first one-shot and everyone was super sweet, so I figured why not make more? As it says in the summary: prompts, ideas and requests are fully welcome! I've got a few of my own but the more the merrier.

Special thanks to reviewer **Guest** over on my first story for this prompt idea!

If you enjoy the story or want to see more, please leave a review with your thoughts down below! :)

* * *

 **Prompt:  
** _This was awesome! I'd love to see more. Did they manage to fix Zed's Z-Band? Or has he just figured out how to maintain control without it working? I'd love to see more of Zed's thoughts on gaining and maintaining control of himself not only around those he loves, but also others!  
_ **Notes:**  
 _Semi-sequel to a_ _girl and a zombie_

 **Genre:** Romance and small doses of Hurt/Comfort  
 **Rating:** K

* * *

 **1  
** React

* * *

Controlling himself is not the hardest thing Zed's ever had to do in his life. No, that title goes to trying to play it cool around the girl of his dreams during his first week of high school. Controlling himself is the second hardest thing he's ever had to do in his life though and even after Addison and him tell her father about it malfunctioning, his Z-Band still acts up after the scientists mess with it.

The electric pulses that emitted from it before were no longer soothing, and his wrist was swelling up like a balloon. Zed can feel the zombie side of him gnawing at his insides, clawing and seething and begging to be let free. It's not a pleasant feeling and it affects his mood a lot more than it should.

It's only a little pain. He should be able to handle it.

How could he be a member of Seabrook's society if he couldn't control himself?

"Does it still hurt?"

Zed sighs as he grabs his math book from his locker and slams it shut, turning towards his girlfriend with a look that could kill. "Are you sure your dad had the scientists fix it? Because if anything, it feels worse than it was." His Z-Band is covered by his jacket sleeve and Zed sees her eyes flicker down to where it's hidden before they find his face again.

"I don't think my dad would stoop that low, Zed."

Zed exhales, pushing a hand violently through his mussed hair. "I know he still doesn't like me, Addy. This is just what he would need to get rid of me. If I slip up and go zombie in public, he'd be able to lock me up and throw away the key."

Addison reaches over and slips her hand into his empty one, intertwining their fingers. "First off, you aren't going to go zombie in public. You're stronger than that. And second, I'll talk to him after school today and let him know you're still having issues." She squeezes his hand, "We'll figure this out, okay? Just hang in there."

She has to stand on her tiptoes to reach his lips and kiss him and he leans down to make it easier for her after their lips are locked. He smiles after she pulls away, her hand slowly falling from his. "I'll see you after class?" She asks, a smile that lights up the hall like nothing else present on her face.

"Of course," Zed confirms, "oh and don't fail your Spanish test!"

Addison rolls her eyes, throwing a smart remark over her shoulder as she rounds the corner. "Thanks for the encouragement, Zed."

"Always dear!" He calls back, and he hears her laughter echo down the hall. He leans back against the row of lockers, math book clutched in one hand, Z-Band resting uncomfortably on the wrist of the other.

"Just hang in there, Zed," he whispers to himself, closing his eyes, "hang in there."

* * *

Addison's dad swears up one way and down the other that Zed's Z-Band is completely, one hundred percent fixed. He promises that he didn't pull any funny business or strike a deal with the scientist that had worked on it and says that maybe it's the Z-Bands' new design that has caused the constant glitches.

He offers to investigate it more and Zed leaves it hanging, preferring not to turn into the town's personal zombie lab rat. He gets used to the constant feeling of his zombie side always being there, always being a part of him, from tasteless meals to casual classes, and of course it's a hassle. But he fights it.

He fights it because he's not a monster.

He refuses to be seen as a monster any longer.

* * *

Stupid things set him off.

He blames the band because the band is changing his moods and any other time the stupidly small things wouldn't bother him at all. It starts with Zoey's new puppy chewing half the things in his room and it takes everything inside of him to not scream.

It escalates after Eliza slaps his hand away before he can press a random key on her computer to mess with her. It makes him angry, so angry that his vision flashes red and the zombie inside of him roars, but it shouldn't. It _shouldn't_. He was trying to mess with her and he had it coming. When Eliza asks if he's okay—"You're looking a little green there Z," he lies and says yes.

His veins turn thick and black after Bonzo accidentally knocks into the wrist that holds his Z-Band and Zed nearly snarls at him from instinct. Instead he shakes it off and plasters a fake smile on his face, pretending not to notice how easy it is to reply back in zombie that it's no big deal.

A random sophomore runs into him in the hallway at school and he nearly bites their face off, fully ready to make dessert of their arm and second-dessert from their fingers. The boy throws a hurried sorry over his shoulder as he rushes off to class, and Zed finds himself struggling to stop himself from chasing after him, instead letting his five-course meal get away.

He's never gotten mad at Addison before.

He didn't think it was possible to ever be mad at her. But it's very possible.

Something inside of him snaps when she tells him she can't hang out with him after school because she has too much homework. He hangs up the home phone with a shaky hand and screams loud enough that it booms through the empty house. There's not even anything _to_ be mad _about_ , Zed tries to tell himself, but his mind is just chanting _brains, brains, brains_ like a mantra.

His tongue tastes sour all of a sudden, saliva pooling as he longs to devour somebody, anybody, everybody. He grabs at his head, tugging so hard that he nearly pulls the green strands from their roots, and he yells again, loud enough that the birds perched on the rotted fence posts outside scatter in a flurry of feathers and wings.

* * *

Sometimes the screen on his Z-Band changes.

Most of the time, even if he's almost going full zombie, it stays on a calm, green **ONLINE**. Sometimes however, it will change randomly, going from green to orange, from orange to red. From a firm **ONLINE** to an intimidating **UNSTABLE** and then to a final **OFFLINE**.

It takes a while but eventually Zed learns that no matter what color his band is on, it doesn't affect him. His band is just broke, he decides, so it's all on him to prevent himself from eating somebody's brains. The band administers the shocks and rubs his wrist raw but doesn't actually do its job. The band is nothing more than another chain shackling him to the brick wall labeling him as a flesh-eating zombie.

He's more than a flesh-eating zombie.

* * *

He fights the anger.

He rebels against the monster raging inside him.

He stops the thought process.

Addison's proud of him. She is so, so proud of him that it makes his heart swell and his head spin. They opt for a night-in instead of a night-out one weekend. Zed's dad is okay with them coming over as long as they don't share a bed, which is understandable. Addison and Zed follow the rules and share the couch, Addison nestled into Zed's side, one of his arms slung around her. Zoey joins them on the couch until it's time for her to go to bed, and she gives them both a hug around the neck before running upstairs, Puppy following behind her, ever the loyal pet.

The swelling on Zed's wrist had gone down but the skin around the band was still a dark shade of red. Addison finds herself staring at his arm as a commercial plays on the television and Zed flinches back when her petite fingers brush over the damaged skin unexpectedly.

"Addy—"

He starts, directing his attention away from the TV so he can look down at her. Addison's already pulling his hand towards her stomach, holding it there gently as her thumb strokes his aching skin. "Why can't we just take the band off?" The question catches Zed off-guard.

"Take it . . . off?" He repeats, checking to make sure he heard her right.

Addison's thumb moves in a comforting motion across his skin. It's careful too; not too much pressure nor too little. Right, left. Up, down. Right, left. "Yeah. Can you get in trouble for it?" Zed ponders the idea for a moment, the television crackling as the signal fades out for a few seconds.

"I don't know."

Addison lifts her head to meet Zed's gaze, and then they jump up from the couch in a tangle of limbs. They browse every zombie handbook Zed's father owns. None of the rules specifically say that a zombie has to have a Z-Band. At the most, they just say that a zombie isn't allowed to run rouge and eat brains.

Bending the rules isn't breaking them.

* * *

Eliza is able to get Zed's Z-Band off.

It's an amazing feeling, not having something clamped down on your wrist, holding you back, holding you down. When air, fresh outside air, hits his sore skin he can't help but cheer, whooping loud and jumping around. Addison's watching from next to Eliza. She can't help but let out a laugh at her boyfriend's childish behavior. Then Zed runs over to Addison and dips her, bringing her up and into a deep kiss.

"Seriously?" Eliza demands, and when she doesn't get an answer she rolls her eyes and allows a long-suffering sigh to escape her. "You two are sickening."

"Sickening sweet," Zed chimes as he pulls back from his girlfriend and wiggles his eyebrows at his best friend, "I think you're just jealous."

Eliza doesn't look amused. "Hey Zed. Come here, I think your Z-Band misses you."

Zed takes off in the opposite direction.

Addison and Eliza share a knowing look and then crack small smiles.

At least—at last—their boy is free.

* * *

It's not easy controlling his zombie side.

It's not hard remembering why he does.


	2. Light (drabble)

~Author's Note~

I would've been completely okay with them kissing in this scene, I'm just saying.

Thank you guys for all of the support so far!

* * *

 **Prompt:  
** _None._

 **Genre:** Romance  
 **Rating:** K

* * *

 **2  
** Light

* * *

He wants to kiss her.

He doesn't know if it's the soft lights or the empty room. He doesn't know if it's how the light bounces off her cheek and frames her face, like she's the shining star of the room. He doesn't know what it is but all he wants to do is kiss her. In this moment, he doesn't care that it could never happen and probably never work. In this moment, he just . . . doesn't care.

Zed always finds himself comparing her to light.

He thinks it's because she's the spark in his life, his light in the dark. For the longest time it's been Zoey and his dad holding that light, keeping him going and moving, a small flicker in the darkness.

They'll always be his light.

Addison just came out of nowhere and became his sun.

She's not a zombie with pasty skin and government-issued clothing. It's insane to like her as much as he does, right? He's only known her for about a week, give or take. She's not a zombie and he knows that in itself is a recipe for disaster—this whole thing could go wrong in a million different ways before next Friday—but Zed can't tear himself away.

She's not scared of him. When he gently curls the rebellious tuft of white hair around his finger, she doesn't even flinch, and the only reason she pulls back is because she's ashamed of it. Zed believes she has nothing to be ashamed of. Her hair is amazing and unique in every single way. There's so many amazing things about her that Zed wouldn't have the time to list them all.

When he says, "You're beautiful." He means it.

It's hard getting the words out. There's a lump in his throat and his palms are clammy. There's a weird feeling in his stomach—can zombies even get butterflies?—and his mouth is suddenly dry. It's nerves, he tells himself. It's anticipation for something that might not happen. It's—it's _something_.

Addison doesn't make any moves to back away.

Their noses are almost touching because of how close they are. Music thrums from the other room and Zed can hear faint cheering and singing but nothing clear. The longer he stares at her, the less anxious he feels.

He doesn't know where the surge of confidence comes from. Maybe it's because she's still standing there, with him. But he's able to lift his hand to her cheek, caressing it affectionately.

He wants to kiss her.

So when the lights go out, he does.


	3. The Date, Part One

~Author's Note~

I don't think I mentioned this yet so I'll do it now—all one-shots are unrelated to one another unless stated otherwise (if I decide to do a second part or something I'll be sure to let you guys know and label it accordingly.) I also feel like I don't want any of my one-shots in here to pass 3,000/4,000 words so if they do I'll split them into parts and let you guys know.

This particular one-shot is in fact split into parts and part two should be up sometime soon!

Thank you guys for all of your super kind words and _great_ ideas.  
(Loved all of them, can't wait to get to writing them!)  
Drop a review if you liked or with your guess on what happens next! :D

* * *

 **Prompt:  
** _None._

 **Notes:  
** _Zed/Addison and Zed/Eliza friendship.  
Mainly Zed/Addison but Eliza and Zed also have a heart to heart about some things._

 **Genre:** Romance with some (?) Angst  
 **Rating:** K

* * *

 **3  
** The Date  
Part One

* * *

"I'm taking you out tonight," Zed declares through a mouthful of apple, catching Addison's eye from across the lunch table, "for our first official date." Eliza rolls her eyes from next to Zed and Bonzo catches her in the act, elbowing her in the side. She shoots him a glare as Addison looks amusedly at her boyfriend.

"We already had our first date weeks ago," she reminds him and Zed shakes his head.

"No, no that one didn't count. You were out with Zed the Fake Human, not Zed the Zombie—"

"You guys already went on a date?" Bree all but exclaims from beside her best friend and Addison laughs, turning towards her and whispering forgotten details while Zed is left mid-sentence, unable to interrupt because the two girls are talking faster than he can follow.

Eliza takes this as her opportunity to grill Zed for her own details. "You went on a date with Cheery Von Cheerstick? How?" Eliza had no issue with Addison. She was a sweet girl and sometimes it was actually cute watching her and Zed interact. They were adorable as a couple and reminded Eliza of fairy-tale books with noble knights and beautiful princesses that her mother used to read her when she was little. They're like Romeo and Juliet . . . just without the tragic ending.

But if Eliza the snarky suddenly turned into Eliza the gushing teddy bear, she'd never live it down. Bonzo and Zed would tease her about it for years to come. That couldn't happen. She wouldn't allow it. "Zombies aren't allowed in any restaurants on this side of town."

When the zombie population had first migrated over, a lot of places—stores, restaurants, libraries—had plastered signs in their windows and on their doors with the words WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO REFUSE SERVICE TO ANYONE OR ANYTHING. Underneath the black writing, was then either NO ZOMBIES ALLOWED or A ZOMBIE-FREE RESTAURANT in bright red.

Addison and Zed had changed things; they had ignited the first real change in Seabrook in over fifty years. But change took time.

Some of Seabrooks' natives, mostly older citizens in the community, didn't accept the change as easily as others did so there was still a good amount of places where those signs still stood proud. Addison's mother and father had been butting heads about it recently, the argument of if it was discrimination or not still up in the air (to them at least) so the bigger changes, like removing those signs, were still being worked at.

Eliza sees the wince Zed tries to hide at her questioning and her eyes narrow. When Zed knows he's about to get chewed out about something, it's readable in his expression or recognizable in his actions. A poorly hidden wince means she's about to rip him a new one once he spits out whatever he's done wrong.

He swallows his bite of apple and nervously tosses his half-eaten apple from one hand to the other. Bonzo is no longer peering at his sandwich, instead he's looking at Zed too, confusion scribbled across his face.

"Gazong?" He asks and an anxious exhale slips from Zed's lips.

"I _might've_ messed with my Z-Band so that I could impress Addison's parents and take her out on impromptu date. I just turned myself human for a little while and I was fine afterwards . . . "

His sentence trails off at the end and Eliza whips towards him, anger flashing in her eyes to hide the fear located underneath. He could've died from messing with his band like that. Didn't the idiot know that?

"You did what?" She hisses and Zed smiles regretfully.

When he goes to open his mouth and respond Addison and Bree insert themselves back into the conversation, completely unaware of the exchange that was taking place between Zed and Eliza. "Sorry for the freak-out," Bree says, grabbing Zed's attention as he turns away from Eliza to stare back at the girls.

Bonzo anchors a hand on Eliza's shoulder and when she glances over at him he nods and she sighs, picking up her plastic fork and stabbing it into a piece of lettuce.

"Nah it's no big deal," Zed dismisses and when he feels Addison's gaze on him he turns towards her, reaching out and catching her idle hand in his. "So," he says, "what do you say?" A second passes and before Addison can answer a look that mirrors that of one forgetting to do something crosses Zed's face. "Oh wait, wait I'm doing it wrong, hold on."

He winks at her before releasing her hand and standing up, making his way over to Bonzo. Bonzo's already busy digging around for something in his lunch bag and when he finds it he's careful to keep it tucked in his large palm and away from Addison's spying eyes as he passes it off to Zed.

"Thanks bud," Zed whispers as he slaps his back and then lifts his body and slides across the table, landing on his feet on the other side with ease before making his way over to where Addison sits. Bonzo looks more than excited from his seat and even Eliza looks faintly curious as Zed gets down on one knee in front of her.

Addison's heart pounds and her eyes widen at the action.

Bree squeals from next to her and claps her hands together and Bonzo chuckles to himself, more than entertained at Addison's awestruck reaction. The entire lunchroom is staring and a hush has settled across the large crowd. Besides a few stray whispers and some low moans of annoyance, it's completely silent.

Zed acts like he doesn't even notice that the entirety of the student body is watching him as he reveals what he was hiding in his right hand and holds it out towards his girlfriend.

It's another carved apple but this time it's different, the first of those differences being that instead of it being a green apple it's a red one and it's not carved all the way through. This apple is carved in the shape of multiple hearts, beautiful hearts, white contrasting red as they jut out from all around the core.

When she's finally able to tear her gaze away from the apple and look at Zed's face, he's grinning wide. "My darling Addison," he says, voice resounding through the lunchroom, "would you give me the greatest honor of my undead life and go on a date with me?"

Inhales ripple through the room, followed by some whispered _aww's_ and laughs. Bree and Eliza glare at the ones who laugh rudely from within the crowd and they close their mouths and don't utter another sound. It's really the apple, not the question, that takes Addison's breath away, but she doesn't tell Zed that (because though she doesn't want to admit it, it's his question that does it too.)

Zed looks up at her and she's looking down at him, a zombie and a girl the center of attention and before Addison can answer the bell goes off. No one moves for a beat and then when Addison still doesn't answer they finally start packing up their things and throwing away their lunches, the room a whirlwind of noise. Only when the noise is loud enough and people are rushing past does Addison answer her boyfriend.

"I would love to go on a date with you, Zed."

Zed's smile seems to stretch all the way to his ears as he reaches over and places the carved apple on the table before leaning forwards and meeting her lips in a deep kiss. Bonzo and Bree cheer and Eliza only smiles once she's sure neither are looking at her. Zed and Addison pay no mind to their animated friends.

His hand cups her cheek as hers wind around his neck and he chuckles into the kiss, unable to contain the excitement bubbling over from her saying yes. When they pull back from each other they keep their foreheads pressed together and Zed doesn't bother with removing his ashen hand from her sun-kissed cheek. Addison doesn't bother with removing her arms from around his neck either.

"Do you always have a flair for dramatics, zombie?" She whispers teasingly and Zed chuckles, leaning in for another kiss, this one quick and perfect.

"Only when it comes to you, cheerleader." He replies like it's the easiest thing in the world.

"We should probably get going," Addison says, attempting to be the voice of reason.

Zed pretends to think it over for a moment. "We should," he agrees, "but I can think of better things to do." He presses his lips to hers with more fire than usual and his hand falls from her cheek, instead moving lower—

"Woah hey!" Eliza cries, "None of that! You have an audience! Go and get a room or a storage closet if you can't keep it in your pants Zed, geez." Zed breaks away from Addison's lips and falls forward against her chest laughing, which just incites another comment from Eliza as her, Bonzo and Bree stand from the lunch table.

Bree and Bonzo deposit their food scraps into the nearest trashcan and then wave at their friends before walking out of the room side by side, leaving Eliza with the two lovebirds in all their glory. To her relief the couple pull apart from each other, it's really more Addison shoving Zed off her, and then stand up.

Addison's class is on the other side of the school and typically Zed wouldn't care and walk her there anyway, but they're actually running late today because of his proposal and he knows Addison wouldn't allow it so when she snatches Bonzo's carved apple from the table and grabs her book bag Zed's barely able to give her a farewell hug before she runs out the double doors. "Six o'clock sound okay? I'll pick you up and we can take the scenic route."

Addison nods, and she really could spend the rest of the day in his arms, she loves him so much, but she can't and reluctantly pulls away. "That sounds amazing." She says as she heads towards he doors, "I have to go but I love you so much!"

"I'll meet you after class and I love you too!"

With those final words she disappears through the doors and Zed grins at Eliza as he picks up his bag and starts to head in the other direction, pushing his way through the doors.

Eliza's stuck in place for a moment before remembering about what he had told her before asking Addison out on a date and her anger returns full force as what could've been grave repercussions rush to the forefront of her mind.

In a split second decision, she decides to follow after him.

"Zed!" Eliza calls, slinging her backpack over one shoulder and hurrying out of the cafeteria to catch up with him, "Zed wait!" Zed turns around, an apology already forming on his lips.

"Sorry I didn't hear—"

"You messed with your Z-Band to turn yourself human." It's not a question, it's a statement and Zed adjusts his grip on his bag, shifting fretfully like a kid caught stealing cookies out of a cookie jar. The smile that had previously been on his face is now wiped off. He won't meet her eyes.

"Yeah," he admits quietly and Eliza scowls at the confirmation.

"Why? Why would you do such a stupid thing?"

Zed tightens his hold on the book bag strap, shrugging like it's no big deal. "I was back to normal within the hour, Eliza. It was fine."

"No it's not _fine_ ," she seethes, reaching out and grabbing at the wrist that holds his Z-Band. "Messing with this band, Zed?" She jerks his wrist towards her and flips it around so that he can see the green color of the screen and the words that control their lives. "It's not a game. It's your life that you're playing with." She pulls at his wrist more, like as if her actions will be able to portray everything she can't bring herself to say. "You could've died, Zed. Do you know that? You could've died because you wanted to impress a girl's parents."

Eliza can't stop her voice from wavering towards the end and oddly enough she finds tears prickling at the back of her eyes. She refuses to cry over this, no way, not in front of Zed, he's seen her cry way too many times by now and that alone is a blotch on her track record so no way in is she going to start bawling in this stupid high school hallway—

"Hey."

She's not holding onto Zed's wrist anymore.

Zed's hand is in hers, squeezing tight, reassuring. Being there. A hand to hold. Eliza blinks and is surprised when a tear slips from her eye and Zed's hold on her hand tightens even more. "Hey," he says again, firm but gentle, not lowering his voice because there's no need to.

The hallways are abandoned. Being late to their classes probably isn't a good way to start off the year, especially with them being zombies and a lot of the teachers hating zombies with a burning passion, but neither really cares.

"I'm okay." He's finally looking into her eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—I didn't know messing with it could kill me. But you don't need to worry. It won't happen again."

Eliza sniffles, pulling her hand out his soft grasp so she can wipe at her eyes, the scowl still on her face but with much less wrath behind it. "You're—"

A hiccup interferes and her glower deepens.

"— _so_ stupid, Zed. L-Look you—you made me get all upset because of _this_ ," Zed chuckles, a soft smile gracing his kind features. He reaches into his jacket pocket and offers her a ragtag handkerchief that's stitched together by blue and red embroidery.

She takes it appreciatively. "Eliza—"

"Don't you _ever_ do it again, okay?" She stresses, handkerchief pressed against her nose.

"Never again." Zed promises and then without any warning he wraps his lanky arms around her, pulling her flush against him in a brotherly hug.

"You know I don't do hugs Zed," she whispers from his chest, but there's no bite behind it.

"I know," Zed mumbles back, "but you know I'm gonna do it anyway."

He's honestly her best friend. She doesn't know if she would've gotten this far without him. Zed and Eliza against the whole wide world. "If it helps," he mutters, "being a zombie is _so_ much better than being a human."

"Well duh," Eliza retorts, "humans are gross."

Zed laughs, his chest rumbling with the action. "Humans are gross," he agrees. "Well, almost all humans. Bree is sweet. And Addison is—"

"Cool. She's . . . cool." Eliza finishes.

Zed grins.

(That's as close as he's getting to a stamp of approval from Eliza.

That's enough for him.)

* * *

"Wow."

Zed's breath is taken away when Addison answers the door, and he only had to knock twice so maybe she's looking forward to this as much as he is.

She's wearing a soft orange dress that cuts off like a skirt would at her knees with fat ruffles and thin straps. The front doesn't veer downwards and show off cleavage, instead keeping steady at her neck like a tee-shirt would. She has her wig on and Zed would question it but he doesn't want to ruin the mood. It's done beautifully, curled and glowing in the evening dusk.

She easily outshines his crisp black suit with fancy cuff-links and a crooked tie—he's also pretty sure there's mold on the back of it, he had dug it out from the bottom of his father's closet and there's some dirt or dust speckled across the hem of the front that he could just _not_ get off—and suddenly he worries that he doesn't deserve to be seen anywhere with her.

She's so . . .

She's light. He's nothing but darkness.

"Is that a good wow or a bad wow?" She asks with a chuckle and Zed struggles for words— _any_ words c'mon brain it's not _that_ hard please work—and he's finally able to discover some and breathe them out.

"A good wow," he reassures, trying desperately to keep the squeak out of his voice, "you . . . you look gorgeous." Addison gets a twinkle in her eye as she smiles.

"Don't you mean delicious?" She asks, her tone playful yet still serious, and Zed is at a loss for words _again_. She truly amazes him in every single way.

"Um, either," he clears his throat, "either of those works, really, I mean you're just so—"

Addison saves him from having to sputter out any more jumbled words—thankfully.

She turns to the empty parlor. "Mom! Dad! I'm leaving! I'll be back before eight!" She doesn't wait for a response as she grabs her purse from inside the house and then meets Zed on the step, pulling the door closed behind her. It's then that she gets a good look at him, the yellow light from the street-lights giving his pale skin some more color.

His green hair is smoothed back by some gel and styled to one side in the front and the suit and pants fit impeccably, the crooked black tie really cementing the whole look. The street light gives some shadow to his jawline and brightens his eyes. It's hard not to stare. His Z-Band is stuffed underneath one of his cuff-links and it's one of the first things Addison notices and when she reaches for his arm he lets her take it. She gently pulls the cuff-link back, bunching it behind the band and then doing the same with his other arm.

Zed watches her the entire time.

Once she's finished she takes both of his hands in hers and exhales, looking up back up at him. "There. Now you're the most handsome zombie out here. You don't have to hide who you are." She swings the arm that holds the Z-Band, "I think the band looks pretty chic with the suit and _you_ look quite gorgeous yourself."

Zed leans down and kisses her but doesn't linger because there's still an eighty percent chance that her father could be watching from inside the house and storm out with something deadly and handcuffs so he keeps the kiss short and sweet.

"Shall we get going my darling?"

He asks in a ghastly British accent and Addison laughs as she drops one of his hands so they can begin walking towards town.

"Lead the way my good sir."


	4. The Date, Part Two

~Author's Note~

This could probably be upped to K+ but this is my first ever story on this site rated at K so I'm trying to keep it there for a (short) while but if you guys feel I should up it now let me know. The whole idea of this definitely came from me thinking about how Seabrook really isn't going to change overnight.

You're talking fifty years and one pep rally is going to change that?  
Things do not happen that easily.

Thank you all for the amazing support!

* * *

 **Prompt:  
** _None._

 **Genre:** Romance with some (?) Angst.  
 **Rating:** K+  
 **Warnings** for mentions of discrimination and nasty views about it.

* * *

 **4  
** The (Actual) Date  
Part Two

* * *

Their walk through town to get to the restaurant where Zed has reservations is short and only takes them about fifteen minutes to get there. The streets are peaceful and lit by the auburn glow of the lowering sun on the horizon and by the time they get to the restaurant crickets are chirping and early evening has turned into night. The sun always sets early in Seabrook and tonight is no exception.

Zed and Addison have been holding hands, giggling at jokes (more Addison than Zed) and stealing kisses (more Zed than Addison) from each other the entire way over and so far the night was going more than perfect.

"After you," Zed says as he holds open the restaurant door with a grand bow and dramatic wave of the hand.

Addison curtseys before walking in, "Thank you," and Zed follows behind her.

The restaurant is stunning.

The walls are a dark oak, lit by white lamps and tables spread out all around them. Waitresses and waiters in black and white tuxedos serve plates full of steak and fill glasses with wine as they stroll through the room. It's a smaller place, sandwiched between a clothes store and a grocery store, but the restaurant's reputation is enough to keep them in business. It's elegant and filled with the soft hum of conversation from patrons and only a few turn their heads when the door closes behind the pair.

Addison looks around in compete amazement, taking it all in. She's heard about this place, and she knows her parents have had private dinners at this place before, but she's never been in it herself.

It's more than words.

When she meets Zed's eyes he's smiling, a thoughtful kind of smile that reaches his eyes and when he reaches for her hand she lets him grab it. "Zed this is—this is incredible. This place is beautiful. I've always heard about it but I've never been in here and," she pauses, eyebrows knitting together, "wait. Zed you can't afford—"

He squeezes her hand fondly.

"Don't worry about it." He leans down and gives her a quick peck but lingers afterwards. "We're only eating appetizers, they have a two for one deal," he mumbles against her lips and Addison's never felt this happy or this grateful in her entire life as she closes the gap and kisses him again. A light blush is coloring Zed's cheeks when she pulls away and it takes him a moment to gather his bearings and remember where they are.

First date. With the most beautiful girl in the world. Right. He's got this.

"Come on," he says, pulling at her hand with a smile.

He leads her further into the restaurant to where a hostess waits behind a brown podium. She's smiling up until she lifts her head from her seating chart and when she sees them the smile disappears. "Hello," Zed greets, drawing out the final letter, "reservation under Z-E-D, Zed."

The hostess blinks.

She doesn't glance down at her reservation list until Zed clears his throat and nods towards the book. "Um yes, yes. Sorry. Zed . . . Zed . . . " Her finger trails down the page and when she finds his name scribbled next to the hasty-written time of 6:25 she lets out an uneasy exhale.

"Follow me please," she says as she takes two menus and leads them into the dining room. She places the menus on top of a corner table towards the back of the restaurant and smiles politely. "Enjoy your meal."

"Thank you," Zed replies sincerely as he pulls out a chair for Addison.

Instead of making her way back to the front after seating the couple, the hostess makes her way to the kitchen in search of the manager. She finds him talking with the head chef and cuts in once she can. "We're allowing zombies in here now?" She asks. The manager gives her a baffled look.

"Zombies? No. We don't allow those scum in here."

"Well there's one in our restaurant. I didn't want to cause a scene so they're seated in the back."

The manager curses under his breath but thanks the hostess anyway, dismissing her. "I don't understand why they think they're suddenly welcomed everywhere. A high school pep rally isn't going to change anyone's opinion of them." He grumbles to himself, checking over some orders.

He doesn't like it, but he doesn't want to cause a scene either so unless it becomes a problem with the other patrons in the restaurant he's not going to say anything.

Hopefully he won't have to.

* * *

"We are going to get an order of the fried shrimp—oh sorry, make that two orders—an order of the boneless wings, mild, and a side order of some French fries." Zed passes over their menus as Addison takes a sip of her Sprite and the waitress writes it down before walking away to put in their order.

Everything goes great while they wait for their food, the both of them talking and laughing and learning things about each other and when the food comes out they both dig right in. The French fries and one order of shrimp are gone within ten minutes and by twenty all that's left are three lone shrimp and two wings.

"Oh my God. Zed, this is the best dinner I've ever had, even if it's only shrimp and fries." Addison says through a laugh, taking a small drink. Zed smiles and after making sure both of the glasses are out of the way, leans across the table and kisses her.

Addison smiles and goes to lift her hand to his cheek but before she can someone interjects and the words they say make the two teens break apart. They don't raise their voice and they don't lower it but their steady volume is loud enough to echo through the semi-full dining room.

"That is absolutely disgusting."

Zed slowly sinks back into his seat and Addison sees him glance down at the Z-Band snug on his wrist. She opens her mouth to say otherwise but the person, an older lady with an abrasive voice, speaks again, igniting hateful comments from all across the room as more and more pairs of eyes turn to stare at Zed and Addison. "Locking lips with a zombie?" She scoffs, dabbing her own shriveled-up lips with a napkin. "Absolutely revolting."

Addison turns towards the older lady, prepared to let her have it. "Hey—"

She's drowned out.

"Don't zombies carry things? Won't she get sick from kissing _that_?"

"I think my appetite is gone."

"Can you believe her parents would allow that?"

"Don't look."

"Is that the mayor's daughter? Oh my—"

It's a dormant volcano erupting. Soon the wait-staff are desperately trying to calm everyone down but there's too many voices, too many whispers. Some people are grabbing their belongings and heading towards the door while others are pointing to where Zed and Addison are sitting. It's a roaring tidal wave that's just getting worse and worse.

When Addison turns back to Zed he's curled into himself, trying to hide himself from the prying eyes of the room. He looks like all of the fight has been wiped out of him, each word stabbing and twisting his insides around. "Zed, it doesn't matter. Don't listen to them." There's something fragile in his eyes, something Addison just wants to fix but doesn't know how.

"Addy," he whispers, shaking his head.

"Excuse me."

The manager interrupts Zed easily, walking over and leaning against the back of Addison's chair. "Sir this is a huge misunderstanding," Addison starts but the younger man holds up a hand, stopping her.

"I think it would be best if you two left."

Addison's mouth drops open. Zed remains silent. "You can't—"

"I can, actually. We have the right to refuse service to anyone." He gestures towards her, "Even the mayor's daughter." The manager is a man who looks to be his late twenties with a balding head and a holier-than-thou attitude. Addison feels helpless under his stern gaze.

"Sir—"

"Miss," he counters, "please. Don't make me call a patrol."

The sound of Zed's chair screeching as he slides it back echoes through the suddenly noiseless room. He reaches into his right pants pocket, searching for something, and once he finds what he's looking for he holds it out towards the manager with a half-smile.

"Keep the change," he says and then holds out a hand towards his girlfriend. The manager's fingers close around the thirty dollar bill at the same time Zed's hand closes around Addison's. "Amazing food, really," Zed marvels as he helps Addison out of her chair, glancing over at the manager. The entire dining room is watching him as he grabs Addison's purse for her. "Way better than brains."

Half the room gasps from shock. Zed doesn't bother with correcting himself and adding on the word cauliflower afterwards. He doesn't care. They really thought zombies were beasts, didn't they? Addison and him might've changed some things at the pep rally but they still had a long way to go. They couldn't change everyone's beliefs with one pep rally . . . and Zed knew that. He did. Sometimes he just hoped otherwise.

Addison loops her arm through his as they leave.

The sign next to the door, scrawled with black and red marker and hidden by an overgrown shrub, rattles in the evening wind.

* * *

"I'm sorry I ruined our date."

"You didn't ruin anything."

Zed ducks his head as another burst of air assaults them, Addison shivering from the sudden cold. "Hey do you want to head inside?" She asks, goosebumps prickling her skin. Zed shakes his head, voice suddenly low as he stares at their interlocked hands.

"I don't think I can deal with anyone else coming after me tonight, Addy."

"We'll sneak in. Run up to my room before they see us."

Zed raises his head, smiling softly. "What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn't get you home in time?" He whispers, bringing one of her hands to his lips. "I don't want to give them any other reasons to hate me, or zombies in general. I'm pretty sure sneaking up to your room with you would give them a lot of reasons."

Another gust hits them, forceful enough that it makes a wind chime jingle from somewhere close by. Zed sheds his suit jacket in one swift movement and throws it over Addison's freezing shoulders. She pulls it around herself as Zed stuffs his hands into his pockets. A frown makes it's way across Addison's face after a few quiet moments.

"They had no right to treat us like that."

"Us?"

Addison meets his gaze unflinchingly, a steely resolve in her eyes. "Us. We're in this together, Zed. It's us against the world. If somebody goes after you then that means they're coming after me too." Zed wants to fight her on it.

 _It's too dangerous_ , he wants to say, _you could get hurt_.

"I'm—"

 _I'm not worth it._

"You're worth it."

It's like she can read his mind sometimes. Eliza does it far more than she should be able to and Zed doesn't know if the fact that Addison can do it too is great or horrible. (It's great.) "Putting yourself on the line like this Addy . . ." Zed starts to caution but Addison barely lets him finish.

"Is worth every second. _You_ are worth every second."

She takes a step forward, closing the distance between them. Zed doesn't know what to do with himself, but he doesn't have to worry long because Addison's already reaching out and wrapping her arms around him in a hug. His arms fall around her shoulders and he dips his head down, resting it on her shoulder.

It's 7:26 on a chilly Thursday evening.

A girl and zombie stand outside braving the weather, buried in each other's arms.

Ready to face the world.

Together.

* * *

~Author's Note~

PS: I'm going to milk these lyrics out for the rest of my life.  
Thanks for reading and reviews would make my night!


	5. DM Me (Celebrities AU)

~Author's Note~

Story time guys.  
A few nights ago I couldn't sleep so, naturally, I went to go browse through social media. I went to Instagram, looked through some of my followers and then I looked up Milo and Meg's accounts. Meg had done a livestream earlier on in the day so I checked it out and started skipping through it.  
Let me tell you, the amount of like . . . creeper/crazy comments was . . . staggering. It's insane to me that we live in a world where that happens on a daily basis, and to kids/teenagers no less. (Milo is _sixteen_ and I'm pretty sure Meg is only _seventeen_.)  
The same thing happened when I checked out Meg's livestream like two days ago? Things were fine for like the first half and then the creeper comments came in towards the end and people started getting rude because she wasn't looking at the chat or answering questions? People are just so . . . I don't know. Ungrateful? She doesn't have to do any livestreams or talk to anyone. And the creeps! I've never seen so many in one place in my life.

It's also the reason why the rest of us don't ever get a chance to talk to celebrities. I know a lot of people, myself included, live in an area/state where nothing happens or don't have the money to go to celebrity meet and greets and that social media is all we got to see what's going on.

We have no chances to ever talk to celebrities because people act absolutely insane.

And the amount of comments asking if they're dating—repeat it enough and they won't. I really try not to ever "ship" people in real life because they're people, just like us, and it's their lives. Honestly I've only done it with a few people and I've kept those thoughts to myself, but it's only because you can just see the chemistry and how they get along and tell there's something going on there. I'm totally okay with Meg and Milo getting together in real life. I think they'd be great for each other and I'm pretty sure one has a crush on the other already (I'll go more into this at a later time if you guys are interested in my thoughts)—but not my point.

Constantly asking about it, that's not gonna make it happen. That's gonna drive them away from each other, friendship included. And they're young. I don't have any idea how they deal with everything people do to them already. Throw them together dating-wise? I don't think even they would know what to do with those comments because people are going to be nasty and crazy no matter what. (Harassing Milo's current girlfriend isn't helping anything either.)

So I'm just saying, if you're a person who comments on their stuff—don't be crazy. "I love you as an actor/actress and I appreciate your work," works extremely better than something creepy.  
(Not that I think any of you guys are the crazy ones. I know we're the normal ones.)

This coming from a person writing fan fiction about them, I know, I know. But you gotta remember—I'm writing about the characters, not the people playing them. I'm writing about the characters these actors/actresses created and brought to life. I'm writing about these characters that deserve some backstory or some attention because of how well they got acted out on screen.

Anyway, for those of you that took the time to read this, thanks. It's just been bugging me and I felt like I had to say it somewhere and fanfiction felt like the right place.

These are people just like you and me.  
If people didn't act crazy, talking to celebrities wouldn't be so taboo.

Sorry for the rant!  
Though this rant gave me the idea for this story (which is fully about Zed and Addison not the real actors okay) so it was good for something.  
Oh and to answer **Lyra** 's very good question: trust me I'm already ahead of you, intimate scenes will be around in this story in the future along with other things like more mature subject matter and such; I'm just trying to keep this at K for as long as possible before I get into the other rating-needs-to-be-raised things I have planned. Thank you for the super sweet words as well! (That goes for the rest of you guys too, you're all amazing, truly, the tremendous support I got with the last chapter was so, _so_ amazing and I'm so grateful!)

* * *

 **Prompt:**  
 _None.  
_ **Notes:** _  
Celebrity AU  
_

 **Genre:** Romance, Friendship and some Humor  
 **Rating:** K+

* * *

 **5  
** (dm me) if you have the time

* * *

O

 _zed-the-zombie liked your post._

O

* * *

"Who's Zed the Zombie?" Addison asks amongst digging through her closet, throwing an old cardigan to the side with a scowl. The question's been weighing on her all day. Her best friend, Bree, looks up from browsing through her phone.

"Um," she starts, confusion blatant in her tone. "Who?"

Addison tosses a pair of pink socks out of her way. Thank God the press didn't know the state of her closet. She's pretty sure she'd get flamed about how disorganized it was. Wasn't it an unspoken rule that girls were the neat ones and guys were the sloppy ones?

"Zed. The Zombie. He liked my Instagram post the other day."

Bree shakes her head, "I've never heard of him."

Addison groans as she sorts through some discarded shirts, muttering angrily to herself. She should've cleaned this out ages ago. She's never going to find what she's looking for at this rate. "Well can't you like . . . Wiki him or something? Please? I'm curious."

Almost at the same time Bree whistles and says, " _Oh_ he's hot. I could see you two together." Addison's cheeks heat up and she's more than glad that she's inside the closet.

"Bree," she chides, "just look him up."

Addison's able to riffle through three more piles of miscellaneous clothing before Bree's voice sounds from behind her. "Zed Necrodopoulus," she pauses and Addison hears her nails click and clack against the phone screen, "well _that's_ a mouthful—"

"Bree," Addison says exaggeratedly, plucking a lone tube of red lipstick from underneath a pair of jeans and tossing it backwards, hoping it lands on the carpet and not on something breakable. When she doesn't hear anything shatter or crack after the action, she breathes out a sigh of relief.

"Nice throw," Bree comments from her spot on the ottoman at the end of Addison's bed and before the natural blonde can nag at her again, Bree begins reading from Zed the Zombie's Wikipedia page.

"Zed Necrodopoulus, more commonly known as Zed the Zombie, is an up-and-coming actor and dancer. He is most known for his roles in various Indie films where he's shown off his sensitive side and his flesh-eating side. His most famous role was as a zombie who decides that eating brains isn't as much fun as falling in love in the film Attack and his natural charisma kept the fans coming back for more in the sequel, Fall. Since wrapping up filming earlier this year for the final movie of the trilogy, Release, he's decided to keep the green hair but ditch the pale skin and make-up."

Addison's already come to the conclusion that she's not going to find her favorite jean jacket anywhere in this horrendous closet in time for the press event later that night but she's not one to give up while she's ahead and hey she can almost see the back wall. What Bree says about Zed's hair however, which is apparently green, is enough to stop her in her tracks because there's no way she can't question it.

"Wait so he has green hair? Like his hair is legitimately dyed bright green just because he wants it to be?" Bree makes a sound that's close to a non-committal hum.

"Well it's not bright green. It's more of an in-between shade that's not too obnoxious and not too toned down." Addison sighs, shoving a pair of black boots out of her way. Her trek is almost over. She's almost to the back of the closet and once she reaches it she can give up and say she searched it all.

"Okay so why is a guy with green hair liking my pictures?"

"Maybe it's because he likes what's in the picture," Bree says innocently, barely able to hold back a laugh when Addison reaches a hand back and flicks her off. The picture was of Addison in a grey sweater, holding a hot chocolate with a peppermint straw in one hand and a book in the other, a bashful smile on her face.

It was a simple picture really, candid in all its ways and everyone had liked it, red hearts and drool-faces here, double pink hearts and heart eye emojis there. Some of the comments had made her smile—not the creepy ones, no—but the genuine ones. Those comments always made her smile.

"Since his success with his zombie movies, Zed Necrodopoulus has taken on the mantle of Zed the Zombie in interviews and on social media. When asked about the change, he's replied by saying, 'Zed the Zombie just seems to fit me a lot better than it should,' and, 'I just really like the whole zombie thing going on and I'm super appreciative of everyone who has helped me get to this point in my life.' Zed has also starred in some music videos and has had cameos in dancing films as a background dancer . . . "

Bree trails off, starting to skim through the rest of his information. "Currently resides in California—well that's awfully stalker-ish Wikipedia—has a father and younger sister, has opened up about his mother walking out on his family at a young age, very adamant about how everyone should be treated the same way and he is the same age as you."

Bree clicks off the Wikipedia page and switches back over to Instagram, continuing her research by now going through the rest of Zed's account. "Does it ever bother you that Wikipedia just documents our lives?"

She asks Addison as she scrolls and Addison answers with a modest, "Sometimes," but then gasps in excitement as she yanks her jean jacket out from under a crumpled dress. "Bree I found it!" She singsongs as he stumbles out of her closet, clutching the jacket close to her chest.

Bree smiles but her eyes don't leave her phone. Addison tosses the jacket on her desk chair and falls on her stomach on the end of her bed, propped up by her elbows so that she's able to see over Bree's shoulder.

Zed has a lot of pictures, nearly three hundred, though it's nothing compared to the thousand Addison has and the six hundred on Bree's account. What could they say? They liked taking a lot of pictures.

Most of the pictures are of his family; shots of a short older man cooking at the stove or sitting in a car, videos of a young little girl with pigtails dancing around the living room or cheering a perfect _Go Zed!_ number with silver pom-poms.

Then there's the pictures of him on different sets, from movies to music videos, and him hugging two friends with the same green hair and pastel make-up. Pictures of an adorable Golden Labradoodle with different filters, the captions _Puppy with her new Ball_ and _Puppy and Me Out in the Town_ going side-by-side.

They get through a good chunk of them before Bree stops on a zombiefied picture of him and turns to look at Addison. "So he lives in the same area as us and is also seventeen." She says as knowingly as possible and Addison groans and drops her head to the blanket.

"Sounds like a recipe for disaster."

"Sounds like boyfriend material to me, Ads."

Addison flicks Bree in the shoulder, "Shut up."

Later that night, against everything inside telling her not to do it, she stalks his Instagram page herself.

 _ **zed-the-zombie**_ _  
294 pictures  
46k followers  
103 following_

Bree isn't wrong.

Zed the Zombie doesn't look that bad.

* * *

 _addison-smith posted a photo._  
[Close-Up of a Starbucks cup next to a half-eaten chocolate donut.]

[5m] zed-the-zombie: basic  
[2m] addison-smith: *white girl

O

 _addison-smith posted a photo._  
[Addison in a cheerleading uniform on set hugging a co-star.]  
addison-smith: "this is gonna be the best day of my life"

[11m] zed-the-zombie: very pretty  
[4m] addison-smith: she is! [laceytheacey]  
[2m] zed-the-zombie: [addison-smith]  
[5s] laceytheacey: [addison-smith] oooo

O

addison-smith:  
 _zed-the-zombie started following you._

O

zed-the-zombie:  
 _addison-smith started following you._

* * *

"So how are things going with zombie boy?"

Addison nearly chokes on her sip of coffee. After she coughs it out, she glances up from her laptop to see Bucky giving her a teasing smile. "Things aren't _going_. People have been freaking out since his 'proclamation of love for me' after he commented on that post and made sure I, along with everyone else, knew he was calling me pretty and not Lacey."

Bucky chuckles, stirring his latte with a spoon after adding two sugar packets. "You're lucky it was Lacey and not Tracey. Tracey would've clapped back, emojis and all." Addison brings her focus back to the article she's working on for school, perusing her questionable thesis.

"Lacey was cool with it. She's been practically begging me for updates every weekend."

It had been a few weeks since the faithful incident with Zed—directly—calling her pretty. The internet was going crazy and apparently two public social media conversations was enough to warrant a ship name too.

"It's not even a big deal," Addison mumbles as she deletes a poorly worded sentence and Bucky looks up from his to-go cup with a raised eyebrow. "I mean, he's pretty and all and I absolutely adore that he likes every one of my posts but I don't know him or anything."

"Then get to. Comment on some of his posts," Bucky offers and Addison finds herself nodding.

"Yeah. I guess I could do that."

"Hashtag Zaddison Lives," Bucky mumbles from the lid of his cup a few beats later and Addison hears and knocks him in the forehead with a packet of sugar. Bucky just laughs and retaliates, shooting sugar all over her keyboard and soon the two are having an all-out sugar war in the middle of the Starbucks café.

(When he makes a post on his own Instagram with that hashtag smack-dab in the center, she can't bring herself to be mad at him because he's her cousin and he's Bucky; Bucky's going to do what he wants to do and nobody is going to stop him from doing it.)

The post gets 100,043 likes.

* * *

 _zed-the-zombie posted a photo._  
[Bust-Shot of Zed sitting at a bar-like table and looking to the left, holding a cup of coffee to his lips, green hair vibrant under the neon lights.]  
zed-the-zombie: Caffeine makes the world go round.

[8m] addison-smith: green?  
[2m] zed-the-zombie: it's my color

 _addison-smith liked your comment._

O

 _zed-the-zombie posted a photo._  
[Puppy sitting next to a sliding glass door, nose pressed against the glass.]  
zed-the-zombie: dog days.

 _addison-smith liked your post._

O

 _zed-the-zombie posted a photo._  
[Zed's back silhouetted against the darkening sky.]

[30m] addison-smith: in the words of the wise; very pretty  
[28m] addison-smith: [zed-the-zombie]  
[19m] zed-the-zombie: I am, aren't I?  
[16m] addison-smith: only because I can't see your face.  
[14m] zed-the-zombie: ouch babe. that hurt  
[10m] addison-smith: babe?

 _zed-the-zombie liked your comment._

* * *

"The internet absolutely loves you two."

"What? Why? There's not even anything to love!"

Bree and Bucky share a look that Addison doesn't like. "Guys, seriously. How can it even be considered flirting if it's just through comments? We've never even met in real life. What if he's like a fifty year old—"

"Zombie?" Bucky cuts in, "I don't think so. It's not some random, it's a fellow celebrity. He has to be real to be a celebrity, Addy."

Addison sighs, shoving her head under her pillow. The three are piled in her bedroom, Bree sitting across from her, Bucky leaning back beside her. She's been talking to Zed through Instagram comments for about two months now and the Zaddison Hashtag was trending like nothing else. If anything, it was just some more unneeded pressure in Addison's life. A Hashtag wasn't going to make her get with a guy whose green hair was brighter than her mascara.

"We know you like him, Ads," Bree says from her spot, completely honest.

Addison lifts her head from the small pillow. "I do not—"

"You do," Bucky deadpans, "don't try to lie to me cuz, I can read you like a book."

Addison doesn't answer.

So what if she likes him? It's not like anything's going to happen anyway. And she's only known the guy, digitally, for two months. It was impossible for her to like him so quickly . . . wasn't it?

* * *

 _addison-smith posted a photo._  
[Addison leaning on her hand, looking into the camera.]

 _zed-the-zombie liked your post._

[45m] zed-the-zombie: you're gorgeous  
[24m] addison-smith: that's awfully bold of you  
[15m] zed-the-zombie: I mean it.  
[14m] zed-the-zombie: [addison-smith]  
[12m] zed-the-zombie: drop dead gorgeous.  
[34s] addison-smith: you aren't too bad yourself, zombie

* * *

 _zed-the-zombie posted a photo._  
[Wide-Shot of an extremely clean clothes closet, shoes lined up, shirts organized by color, pants folded over neatly in the sleeves.]

Addison gasps when she sees it and her finger hovers the photo, her usual automatic like disappearing. She refuses to like his photo. How dare he be so—organized.

She opens up the comment bar, muttering to herself all the while.

addison-smith: jerk

She locks her phone and wanders to the kitchen in search for a snack, still completely peeved about Zed's non-sloppy habits. Was the universe just out to prove her wrong? She knows he posted that picture just to be a smart-ass too; they had a conversation about how messy her closet was less than a week ago. Zed and Addison have been talking for about five months now and he was growing on her, she'll admit it.

Zombies weren't that bad once you got to know them.

When she returns to the couch with a ham and cheese Hot Pocket in hand she goes back to watching her show, giving her all in sitting there and eating her food and not thinking about Zed and his amazingly-clean closet. She doesn't check her phone again until she's finished eating.

zed-the-zombie: I think you're just jealous.

The public eats the words up. The comment already has 76 likes and it's only been up for ten minutes. The winky-face emoji trailing after his words just makes the response worse and yet it's a smile Addison's struggling to keep off her face.

He's so annoying.

And yet . . .

(He's really not.)

* * *

 _addison-smith commented on an older post._

[3m] addison-smith: you should dm me if you ever have the time  
[1m] zed-the-zombie: oh yeah?  
[24s] addison-smith: yeah.

Zed's sure she comments on one of the oldest posts she can find to try and keep it out of the public's eye. It makes him smile. Without anymore delay, Zed goes to his Direct Messages and finds Addison's name.

zed-the-zombie: hey gorgeous

Addison smiles down at her phone as it rings with the new message, Zed's words displaying across her lock-screen. She can't type out her reply fast enough.

addison-smith: hey zombie  
addison-smith: miss me?

zed-the-zombie: always

* * *

~Author's Note~  
Alright fine you caught me the picture with the coffee and the green hair I based on that one picture of Milo but that's it I swear. Addison's username was supposed to be addison . smith but FF blocked it? Along with what were supposed to be the 'at' things so that's why instead there were brackets around the names.

Let me know your thoughts below!  
Did you enjoy the story? Did anyone have any issues with the formatting? Did anybody actually read my rant or just skip over it? XD


	6. Home, Part One

~Author's Note~

In my entire FF career I've never written a Celebrity AU so I'm extremely happy it worked out and that everyone enjoyed it! I was worried you guys weren't going to like it because it was an AU (and how dare I mess with our zombie/cheerleader dynamic) but again, so happy it worked out. There *may* be more parts to come in that little universe but if they do they'll be out of order so we will see. Thank you all for the feedback!

So I didn't want to cut this into two parts and I desperately tried to keep it as one but it just spiraled and got _really_ long so there is a part two to this. I'm finally getting around to some of the prompts I got from you guys. For everyone who has submitted an idea, I will be writing them out of order but no worries, I will get to them all.

Now if you'll excuse me, I am off to watch that special showing of Zombies that I recorded from earlier. Can't wait to see the behind the scenes stuff. Thank you all so much for the support and drop a review with your thoughts if you enjoyed! :)

Special thanks to **Guest** **(The Mysterious Pen)** for this idea!

* * *

 **Prompt:**  
 _Addison has a panic attack and Zed calms her down._

 **Genre:** Romance  
 **Rating:** High K+

* * *

 **6**  
Home  
Part One

* * *

"I really don't want to go to class."

"Coming from the Straight-A student? I'm appalled."

"Garg," Bonzo agrees from where he's leaning against the wall.

Addison exhales, shifting in Zed's hold. The couple are nestled against the side of a green locker in a gap between one stretch of lockers and the next. Bonzo is to the left of them, one shoulder pressed to the wall and Bree's next to him, running her fingers up and down the strap of her school bag idly. Eliza rounds out the semi-circle of misfits, standing partially in the hallway with Bree on one side and a locker on the other.

Zed's back is to the locker and Addison's huddled against his chest, his arms loosely wrapped around her stomach, not constraining in any way so that she can freely move around if she wishes to do so.

Eliza's sharp words did have a point. Addison wasn't one to ever complain about class or attempt to ditch one. Zed was a B+ student on average but even he took a zero here and there when he just wanted a break and skipping was the only reliable option.

He doesn't think he's ever heard Addison say the words 'I really don't want to go to class' in the months he's known her. It wasn't like her.

"You okay?" Zed asks quietly from above her head and she offers no answer besides an exhausted sigh. She slips one of her hands over top one of his. Her skin is cool to the touch, freezing even, and that's saying a lot coming from an undead creature that can't produce heat and runs cold all of the time. "Addy?"

He prompts gently and all their friends look worried about her when her gaze flickers over each one of their faces. "I'm fine," she dismisses, trying her best to keep her voice more alive than she currently feels, "I'm just really tired and stressed out. I also don't feel like dealing with a science lab today."

"You don't have to worry about that," Bree says reassuringly, "Eliza and I can do the lab and all you'll have to do is the notes so that it at least looks like you're working when Mrs. Tim does her rounds." As if triggered by the name, Eliza frowns and a look of pure repulsion crosses over her features.

"I understand that we're zombies and that we haven't had the best schooling system over the years but I've never had a teacher _hover_ as much as that _gar-gar-zonga_ does during labs."

Bonzo chuckles at the wording Eliza uses and if Addison wasn't so out of it she would've pointed out that calling a teacher _that_ wasn't going to help anything. Addison had been trying to learn zombie for a while and she had the hang of it for the most part and now that she really knew what Eliza was saying when she muttered something under her breath or started complaining in zombie to Zed about something annoying someone did in class she was more than amused at Eliza's very advanced yet very vulgar vocabulary.

Addison never in a million years would've thought that zombies had more curse words than humans or that they had so many different words for the same profanity in English.

Zed rolls his eyes at Eliza's foul language and starts to stroke the back of Addison's hand with a thumb in a soothing back-and-forth motion. He might not be able to help with any physical ailments of hers but he could possibly help with calming some of the more stressful ones that resided within her brain.

Addison appreciates the action more than words can describe and feels some of her stress already beginning to melt away as she turns her head and rests it against Zed's jacket, something tranquil settling inside of her. He's always exactly what she needs.

"If you're skipping class today I'm totally down. Mrs. Tim can su—"

"I didn't say I was going to skip class," Addison denies quietly, not bothering to move away from Zed's chest so that she's looking at Eliza while answering her; honestly she just doesn't have the strength to do so in the first place. "I just said that I really don't want to go."

"Eliza you are literally the worst influence on this planet," Zed voices.

Eliza scowls at him in response. "No I'm not. Everything I do has good reason," she mutters defensively and Zed reaches an arm out haphazardly to playfully swat at her. She slaps his hand away before it can reach her own arm. "At least _I_ don't act like a child," she grumbles pointedly and Zed gasps dramatically.

"How dare you." He states, resting his chin atop Addison's platinum hair, "Take it back."

"Example A," Eliza chimes, crossing her arms.

Bonzo and Bree glance at each other. They both know where this exchange is going.

"I don't like you."

"Example B."

Addison's eyes slide closed. Her arms are wrapped around Zed's lower waist, her head fully buried into his chest now. She can feel every jostle from him moving around and talking but she still feels more at peace like this, with him, than at home in her own room.

Home hasn't really felt like home lately.

She knows that's where a lot of her stress is coming from. Zed's hold on her tightens when he feels her relax against him and he doesn't want her to fall so he keeps a grip on her that's just enough; lenient and snug all at the same time. Oddly enough, Zed and Eliza's bickering puts Addison right to sleep.

It's the best sleep she's had in a while but it doesn't last long. In what feels like only seconds later, when in reality it's about ten minutes, the bell shrieks, signaling it's time for class. Addison jolts awake, jerking in Zed's firm grip and when he feels her start he presses a loving kiss to her hair, giving her a gentle squeeze around the waist.

"You're okay," he whispers, just loud enough that she can hear the deep tone of his voice and know that it's him, "I got you."

Addison smiles. "I know," she sleepily replies.

The hallway is loud now. Kids are rushing past, shoes squeaking on polished floors as they hurry off to their classes, laughter and chatter amplified and echoing all around the group clustered in the corner. It's all so loud. Bree and Eliza have moved out into the hallway a little more, standing guard over their friends, making sure that no one tries to cut directly through their little circle as an alternative route to their destination.

"You sure you don't want to skip?" Eliza whips around at Zed's words, mouth gaping.

"What? You—and _I'm_ the bad influence?"

Bonzo can't hold back his laugh. Addison yawns and pulls back from Zed, shaking her head as she reaches down for the heavy schoolbooks awaiting her on the ground. "No, no I'm fine." The bell rings again, warning them that now they only have five minutes to get to their respective classes.

When Addison turns back around, Zed's gathering his own belongings from the floor but he doesn't look convinced that she's fine. "It's really no big deal," he tries again, shouldering his bag, "we could go to my place so you could get some rest." Addison runs a hand over his jacket, smoothing out a particularly noticeable crevice.

"I'm okay Zed, really. Now get to class before you and Bonzo are late." She has to reach up on her tiptoes to plant a quick kiss on his lips and Zed still doesn't look fully swayed but he lets it slide. "Love you," Addison murmurs as she pulls back and the look of worry that was on Zed's face is replaced by an all-out grin.

She's noticed that recently, or possibly since forever she isn't quite sure, whenever an _I love you_ leaves one of them, Zed smiles like he's the luckiest zombie on the planet. "Wrap it up lovebirds," Eliza says from her spot next to Bree and Zed chuckles before dipping down and leaving a purposely sloppy kiss on her cheek.

Addison can't get the words she wants to yell at him out fast enough.

"Love you too, Addy!" Zed calls as he grabs Bonzo by the arm and takes off down the hallway in the opposite direction that the girls go.

"It's a good thing you love him," Bree remarks and Addison finds herself smiling as she falls in step with them as they begin to make their way to science.

"Yeah. It is."

* * *

"I'm going to off myself in five seconds if Mrs. Tim doesn't shut up, I swear." Addison has trouble not laughing at Eliza's bitterly whispered comment and even Bree, whose busy scribbling down notes from the whiteboard, has to erase a word because it made her lose focus for a second to chuckle and she ended up writing down the wrong thing.

Science was . . . seriously more boring than usual.

Addison decides right then and there that the next time Zed asks her to skip she's going to accept the offer, Straight-As be damned. Mrs. Tim had been blabbering about chemical reactions for nearly thirty minutes now and things didn't seem to be getting any better. Plus they were supposed to be doing a lab today that was going to count as a quiz grade but at this rate, with how slowly Mrs. Tim was talking, Addison didn't think that lab was going to happen.

"Okay so how do we kill a zombie? Pencil to the neck?" Eliza whispers, boredom and annoyance obvious in her expression. She looks from Addison to Bree. "Z-Band malfunction?"

"Not funny," Addison finally says, attention now on her friend instead of the teacher.

Eliza groans. "I rather be in the basement than in this class."

Bree tries, and fails, to hide her smile in her shirt sleeve. Addison pokes Eliza in the shoulder with the eraser end of her pencil, "Lighten up girl," she whispers and Eliza doesn't look impressed.

"If I throw a lamp at you, will you lighten up?" She fires back, narrowing her eyes.

Though it might seem like an aggressive action to anyone else, Addison knows it's Eliza's way of communicating. Sarcasm is her one and only line of defensive. Addison and Bree have also come to learn that all the sarcasm she uses with them, along with Bonzo and Zed, is out of pure love.

It warms Addison's heart to know that she's part of such a tight-knit circle.

It warms her heart to know that she's trusted . . . and by Eliza, no less.

Bree loses it.

Addison thinks it's because of Eliza's tone of voice—how it's completely and utterly serious as she says the comeback—and everyone in the classroom turns towards their table at the sound of her laughter. It takes everything in Addison to keep her poker face as Mrs. Tim makes her way over and glances from a laughing Bree to a stone-faced Eliza, hands on her hips.

"Is something funny over here, ladies?" She questions, raising a bushy eyebrow.

Mrs. Tim was a scrawny, middle-aged woman with light brown hair that she always pulled into a messy bun and shaggy eyebrows that looked more like hairy insects rather than eyebrows. She fits the bill of a great teacher—doesn't discriminate, not too strict with grades, nice when she teaches—but it's her voice that gets on everyone's nerves and removes her from ever making the 'great teachers' list.

Her tone is a mix between a monotonous drone and nails on a chalkboard.

"Well—"

"No ma'am," Addison interrupts, not trusting that whatever was about to come out of Eliza's mouth was going to be anything less than an insult. The three of them had plans that upcoming weekend. Addison couldn't risk Eliza landing herself in detention. Though there was no guarantee that it wouldn't happen later in the week when Addison couldn't keep an eye on her.

Mrs. Tim stares at the three of them for a moment more before turning around to face the rest of the class. "Alright class. We have enough time left to start on our lab. You won't be able to finish today but you can get started and remember—it counts as a quiz grade. Take your time. There is no rush. Now, grab your googles, equipment and get working."

Addison jabs the sharp point of her pencil into Eliza's arm. "You're welcome," she says and Eliza rolls her eyes and pushes away from the table and makes her way over to the supplies as Bree moves to get them googles.

Eliza and Bree get started on the lab within a few minutes, the two able to work together without too much disputing as they get their Bunsen burner up and running and sparks are flying from all around the room as all the other students softly talk and get their own burners going.

Addison watches her friends work, grateful they were okay with her sitting this one out.

She felt tired again. Drained. Defeated. Though all she was doing was leaning on an elbow and jotting down notes when Eliza or Bree needed her to, it seemed like the most demanding task in the whole entire world.

Her thoughts begin to wander while Bree and Eliza fuss over re-lighting the flame the latter accidentally put out (only because Bree nearly turned her hair black instead of green as Eliza later claims) and Addison finds herself thinking about her parents.

She didn't know if it was the upcoming re-election or because her father was coming under fire for having a zombie-only patrol force instead of a non-biased one, but her parents were fighting. A lot. Things had escalated from angry muttering in the mornings to screaming matches late at night in the kitchen and the stress was wearing on Addison.

She was losing sleep at night and getting up too early in the morning because of her father slamming the fridge out of spite while her mother was still sleeping and then her mother doing the same to him on his days off. She wasn't eating as much as she should've been either, too busy with reassuring her mother that she was going to get re-elected or helping her father look up discrimination laws.

Helping them would then push her homework back so that Addison found herself taking midnight showers and doing algebra until nearly two in the morning and then being up by five when school wasn't even until seven.

On top of all of that, her teachers had suddenly decided that now was a great time to unload every test in existence. Addison had a test every day this week, along with the next one, and none of them were easy feats either. She had to study for each one when then meant she wasn't getting to sleep until three.

Homework was big too and she couldn't turn in anything late or else she wouldn't get credit and if she didn't get credit her grade would go down and if her grade went down her parents would yell at her instead of each other and Addison doesn't want that because if that happens she'll probably just burst into tears because so much is going on and she wouldn't be able to handle the questions and the prodding.

It's like she's drowning.

She's drowning in a box and the top is closed, caging her in, locking her in and her nails are scabbing at the top but the lock isn't budging because she can't reach it because it's on the outside and she can't get out and the water is filling and filling and filling.

Past her feet, covering her knees, cold and bitter as it nips at her exposed skin, soaking through her clothes, suffocating, suffocating, suffocating.

It's like she's being buried alive, panic seizing her, freezing her veins, panic in her eyes, panic everywhere. Is it quick if you're buried alive? No, it's not, Addison thinks as the dirt fills in around her, encasing her in a tomb like clay in a mold. She digs and digs and digs, her hands burning as the dirt rubs them raw and builds under her nails and God she can't get out of here, she's going to _die_ here—

Her vision begins to go, black dots swimming and swarming as her hearing goes muffled. She thinks her hands are shaking—but how are they shaking if she can't move in this box?—and there's a sudden pressure on her back that's heavy and unwelcome. She tries to hit it away, a hand shooting out into the blackness and reaching nothing, and she squeezes her eyes shut because the world's spinning far too fast for her to process.

She can't breathe. Oh God. She can't breathe.

The dirt is filling her lungs, piling into her mouth, burying her alive. The water's filling her stomach, expanding it far too wide, shutting her insides down, drowning her. Addison's final thought is _I'm too young to die_ and then the world explodes into color around her.


	7. Home, Part Two

~Author's Note~

Hey guys! So just to let you all know, in total this prompt amassed to about 6k words? I really didn't know it was gonna turn out this long so sorry about that. But that's why it had to be split in two for those of you wondering. The next one-shot is definitely going to be shorter and up sooner, I think.

Thank you all so much for the amazing, amazing support!

 **WatchAndSee**  
Love the prompt idea! Added to the list! Thank you!

Again, special thanks to **Guest** **(The Mysterious Pen)** for this idea!

* * *

 **Prompt:**  
 _Addison has a panic attack and Zed calms her down._

 **Genre:** Romance and Hurt/Comfort  
 **Rating:** K+

* * *

 **7**  
Home  
Part Two

* * *

"Addy? Addy. I'm right here, Addy. We're right here. I got you. We got you." Her hearing still isn't clear enough so she can't distinguish the voice but it sounds strangely comforting. When Addison opens her eyes she's met by a grey-titled floor. Her hands are braced on the title, spread out in front of her and her heart feels like it's about to beat out of her chest.

The room she's in is silent but not and when she breathes in she can feel the same heaviness from before on her upper back. It takes her two more shaky inhales to realize that it's a hand, not a boulder holding her down.

"We got you, okay?" The previous voice says, closer to her ear this time. Addison can hear the tension in their words and feel the tremble of the hand resting gently on her back. Someone moves in front of her, getting down on their knees, resting both hands on her shoulders, not pushing her to move or to look up but calmly encouraging her to talk.

"Addison? Hey. Can you hear me Addy?" Her hearing still isn't cleared up.

She hears more muffled voices in the background. Then the same voice says, "Somebody go and get Zed," and something inside of her clings to that name—it's safe that names safe that person's safe he's safe—but she's shook from the thought when something cold touches her left arm. It makes her flinch.

"Where can we take her?" A different voice asks—Bree?—panicked and uneasy.

"Addy," the soft voice says again, this time closer to her, like they're requesting a secret that's locked away, "Addy where do you feel safe?"

The words click. Her brain files through multiple things.

Sitting on the wooden swing in her backyard. Zed. Snatching her favorite seat in the back corner of her favorite movie theater. Being near Zed. Burrowed in the library's big blue chair with a Sarah Dessen novel in her hands. In Zed's arms. Snacking on pizza rolls while watching the latest episode of The Bachelor. Zed's house. Helping Zoey teach Puppy dog tricks. Zombietown. At the beach, sand in-between her toes and the early morning sun on her back.

Is it wrong that her own home doesn't make the list?

"Safe?" Addison gets out, breathing still too heavy, black dots flickering in and out of her sight.

"Safe," the voice—Eliza?—confirms. "Where do you feel safe here, Addison? Come on. Talk to me."

 _This, is where we had our first punch._

"Safe room," she mumbles. Bree finishes the thought for her.

"I know where. Come on."

Then Addison's moving. She thinks she hears someone yelling but the two girls helping her walk down the hallway pay no mind. The walk is long and tedious and when she hears the hiss of a metal door she lifts her head and feels instant relief flood her when she sees the stacked bookshelves and grey walls.

Eliza and Bree carefully bring her down to the ground, her back leaning against an icy wall. Eliza lifts a hand to her shoulder and their concerned faces flutter in and out of Addison's vision. "Hold on Addy," Bree whispers, brushing a piece of hair from Addison's face.

"Help's coming." Eliza says but it's like Addison can barely hear her.

The water's around her again, _rising-rising-rising_ and she can't get away from it and it's at her chin it's swallowing her whole she's not going to make it she's not going to make it she's not—

"Hey, hey, hey I'm right here. I'm right here baby okay? I'm right here. I got you, I got you."

She knows that voice. She blinks and her vision clears enough that she can see him. Zed. He's crouching down in front of her, hands hovering by her shoulders, unsure if touch is the right way to go. His face is full of fear.

"Zed?" She whispers and when she reaches for him both of his hands wrap around hers.

"Yeah Addy. I'm here. I'm right here." He turns his head to the terrified Eliza and Bree. "What happened?" Zed asks as he gently drops his girlfriend's hand and switches to running his hands up and down her arms in, what he hopes, is a comforting motion.

He doesn't have too much experience with panic attacks. But he has a basic knowledge of them and he knows full well he won't be able to help the situation any if he's in the dark about what had even caused the episode in the first place.

"She was taking notes one minute and the next she was on the floor," Eliza supplies, "then we panicked and maybe walked her out of class without permission." Zed takes the information in but something still doesn't add up.

"But what happened? What made her go into one?"

"Being overwhelmed, maybe?" Bree ventures, looking from one zombie to the other. "I know things have been really bad at home for her so maybe she just got to thinking about it and freaked herself out?"

Zed turns back to Addison, whose eyes are darting around frantic. "She told me everything was okay, that her parents were working things out," he mumbles, looking lost, and if this was a different time you could say he even looked a little betrayed and Eliza picks up on the look faster than Bree does.

"Zed," she snaps, "you need to focus. If we can't calm her down we'll have to take her to nurse and the nurse will have to call her parents and then she'll have to talk to her parents about it." Eliza doesn't leave him any room to argue. "You're the only one who can calm her down. So stop sulking and help her."

Zed looks back to Addison and her eyes meet his hesitantly.

What are the steps to stop a panic attack again? Zed struggles to remember. The last time he heard them was . . . when his mom was still alive. Something painful stabs at his heart. No. No, he needs to focus. He needs to focus so he can help Addison. Steps. The steps. What were the steps?

"Addison," he says, voice firm yet gentle, "hey. Focus on me okay? Okay?" She does, bringing her head up so she can fully look at him. Zed smiles, coaching her on. "Yes that's great. Stick with me okay? Listen, you're having a panic attack. I can't help you until you realize what's going on."

Step One: Recognize that you're having a panic attack.

It takes a moment for Zed's words to reach her through the fog surrounding her. A panic attack? Her? She's never had a panic attack before. How was that even possible? As if reading her thoughts, Zed grabs one of her hands and squeezes gently. "Panic attacks can happen to anyone at any time but that's okay because you're okay. Now I need you to close your eyes. Can you do that for me, baby?"

Step Two: Close your eyes.

She can but she really doesn't want to. She likes being able to see him.

Seeing him . . . it reassures her that she's going to be okay because Zed would never let anything happen to her. "I'm right here," he vows, squeezing her hand again and bringing the other one to rest on her thigh. "I'm with you." Addison closes her eyes. "You're doing great, Addy. Now I need you to breathe with me, okay? Big deep breaths."

Step Three: Use deep breathing.

He makes an audible inhale and exhale and Addison struggles to repeat it at first. "You're okay. You're okay." He promises, and after a few more shaky ones her breathing finally starts to even out. "Amazing. You're doing amazing," Zed says, "Last thing, alright?"

Step Four: Find and focus on something that grounds you.

"I need you to focus on something you like. It could be your favorite thing in the whole-wide world—like cookie dough ice-cream—or your happy place, or even a person. Whatever it is, I need you to focus on that and only that and then it'll be over and you'll be better."

Step Five: There is no Step Five.

"What's step five, Mommy?"

Zed's mother smiles down at her son, ruffling his beautiful green hair. "There is no step five, honey."

Zed tilts his head, "Why not Momma?"

His mother chuckles and hoists him up and into her arms, hugging his tiny body to hers. "Because by step five . . . you're all better."

Addison opens her eyes.

Zed smiles when he sees her beautiful baby blues. Addison's gaze moves from his face, memorizing every line and every dip, to Eliza's beside him. She looks upset but there's a curve to her eyebrows that shows she's angry too. Addison worries for a second that she's mad at her but then she sees her glance at Zed and it's suddenly clear that the anger is directed at him. Finally Addison turns her head and sees Bree next to her and the fellow cheerleader looks worried sick, mouth twisted into a frown that looks unnatural on her regularly joyful features, her eyes full of distress.

Addison exhales.

She feels better. Her breathing is back to normal and her head feels cleared. There's no black crawling into her vision and her hearing isn't muffled. She brings her attention back to Zed. Their hands are still clasped together in front of them and he smiles at her before abruptly squeezing once and then letting go. She's confused for a moment and a _wait_ almost leaves her lips but then the answer as to why he had let go in the first place is revealed when Bree squishes her in a tight hug.

"I'm so happy you're okay," she whispers before pulling back and Addison chuckles.

"Thanks for getting me here," she replies quietly, grateful she was there. Grateful that she even remembered about the safe room.

"Of course," she pauses and then holds out a hand, "do you want to stand up?"

Addison takes her hand and lifts herself up, Bree assisting her as she goes. Zed and Eliza follow and once she's standing Addison makes her way over to Eliza and hugs her. Eliza stiffens at the contact. "Thank you for taking care of me," she mumbles and what sounds like Eliza trying to scoff reaches her ears. Keyword—trying.

Because her scoff doesn't sound like a scoff. Instead it sounds more like a watery exhale as her arms slowly wrap around Addison so that she can hug her friend back. "Don't scare us like that again," Eliza whispers back, trying to sound commanding but her voice doesn't reach the tone it needs to.

Zed watches the two girls interact with a soft smile on his face and when Addison pulls back and glances over at him he feels like a weight's been lifted off his shoulders. Thank God she was okay.

When a random freshman had burst into his math class and interrupted the teacher to tell Zed he was needed, he was confused. The freshman was a fellow football player, one of the backup linemen, and he was kind, but Zed hadn't really talked to him unless he was dragged into the conversation by someone else. When Addison and Eliza would meet Zed at practice, the boy always greeted them with a friendly hello and the three would strike up a discussion about computers or disliked teachers. He was a nice kid.

"Needed?" Zed had asked, gaze switching between the math teacher and the freshman, who had then nodded.

"It's Addison. I think she's having a panic attack." The rest of what he said had fallen on deaf ears. All Zed knew was that he needed to get to Addison. He had stood up from his desk, one of his spiral notebooks sliding off the table and hitting the floor. "Eliza said for someone to get you and no one was moving so I decided—"

"Thank you. Thank you," Zed turned away from the freshman to look at the teacher in the front of the room. He was standing stagnant in front of the whiteboard, green marker uncapped and suspended before a line that he's supposed to be turning into a four. "Sir, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry but I have to go."

"Zar gong?" Bonzo queries, looking up at Zed.

Zed had nodded, "Yeah buddy. It's fine."

Bonzo looked bewildered after that, "Zong zag zig. Garga zang gar gong?"

Zed had already gotten to the doorway, edging his way out of the completely silent classroom, ignoring the dirty looks some of the other students are giving him for disturbing their lesson. The look he gives Bonzo is one of sheer determination and absolute commitment and it makes Bonzo take back his previously asked question almost immediately.

"She's worth it, Bonzo. Always."

And then Zed was gone, following the freshman down the hallway and leaving his math class behind. When they got to the girls' science class and discovered that they weren't there, Zed had ran his hands through his hair worriedly.

"They were right there," the freshman says resolutely and Zed believes him. The teacher towards the front of the room looks downright pissed.

"They walked out," Mrs. Tim says with a hint of disbelief to her voice, "they walked right out. All three of them!" Zed fidgets, dread clawing at his insides. Where would they have gone? To the nurse? Mrs. Tim then realizes that Zed isn't in her class and her disbelief doubles. "And what are you doing here, Mr. Necrodopoulus? You aren't in this class."

"I'm looking for my girlfriend," he retorts, meeting Mrs. Tim's widened eyes stubbornly.

"You can't just waltz into another class—"

The thought hits him like a freight train slamming into him. "Safe room," he mumbles more to himself than to the freshman beside him, "the zombie safe room."

He's already moving towards the door by the time Mrs. Tim is screeching, "Mr. Necrodopoulus you have detention!" and Zed couldn't bring himself to care.

He still doesn't. Sunday detention was worth being there for her.

Addison brings him back to the present by wrapping her arms around his torso and Zed's fall around her waist, hugging her close. He leans his head down and rests it on one of her shoulders, breathing out. He turns his head so his lips are near her neck.

"You should've told me," he murmurs against her skin and he feels her grip on him tighten.

"I didn't want to bother you."

The words make Zed pull back.

The action is so abrupt that Addison pulls back herself, her arms dropping from around him as she goes to take a step back. "Hey," he whispers, stopping her. He reaches his arms back out and rests his hands on her hips. "None of that." Addison opens her mouth to interject but Zed cuts her off before she can. "I'm here for you to bother."

"Zed—"

He shakes his head, "No, no I'm serious. Bother me with everything. Call me if you need to rant about the latest episode of The Bachelor. Text me if you need somebody to talk to about cookie dough ice-cream during class. Face-time me about what to wear and if blue looks better on you than pink and even though the answer is always going to be pink and even though we're always going to argue about it for twenty minutes I want you to call me anyway. Because I am here for you to bother, no matter what."

He leans down and presses a quick kiss to her lips.

"I am here for you. I'm here for you to question, answer, kiss, hug, love, hate—I'm here for everything. Addy. I'm here for you to lean on." He steals another kiss. "I'm in this for the long haul." Addison's eyes shine with so much adoration that it makes Zed grin.

"Hey," she whispers, reaching up and kissing him, grazing a hand across his jaw. "I'm in this for the long haul too." Zed can't help it. He kisses her again, deeper this time but not too deep because they have an audience. Addison's cheeks are flushed red by the end.

"Mrs. Necrodopoulus," he asks jokingly and Addison swears her heart speeds up way too fast at even the thought of being a Necrodopoulus, her cheeks flaming. Zed looks like he's on top of the world. "Would you care to join me in skipping the rest of the school day?"

Addison pretends to think about it for a moment, though she already had her answer before he had even asked the question. Her answer was _yes_ as soon as she heard the words Mrs. Necrodopoulus leave his mouth. "I would love to Mr. Necrodopoulus."

"I'm coming too," Eliza announces and then lightly elbows Bree in the side. "You in, Cheerleader?"

Bree looks from Eliza to Zed and then finally to Addison who mouths _do it!_ with an eager smile. "What the hay," Bree says enthusiastically, "I'm in."

"Alright," Zed exclaims. "I say ice-cream and an afternoon movie? We can grab Bonzo on the way out."

"I'm down," agrees Addison and Zed presses a kiss to her temple.

Eliza's already opening the safe room door, looking happier than she should about the prospect of skipping school all-together. "Let's ditch this mother—"

"Don't finish that sentence!" Zed interrupts and when Eliza looks back at him he's playfully covering Addison's ears. "There's children present, Eliza, c'mon." Addison swats his hands away but she's laughing and so is Zed and even Bree and Eliza have smiles on their faces as all four of them leave the safe room.

They grab their book bags from their classes and as Addison and Bree wait in the hallway for Zed and Eliza to snatch Bonzo from math class, Addison finds her mind wandering again. But this time, it's not about anything bad.

Addison's never been one to have panic attacks. She didn't think it was even possible for someone like her—considering her moods were always on the upside rather than the down—but today she was proven wrong. Panic attacks could happen to anyone, including her, and they could happen at any time.

She almost drowned. She was almost buried alive.

But then she found her way back to surface with help from Bree, Eliza and Zed. With help from her best friends. They all saved her and Zed . . . Zed was something else. Having Bree and Eliza at her side through the whole ordeal helped her immensely but Zed had grounded her. Zed had brought her back from sea, Zed had grabbed her hand through the mounds of dirt and pulled her out.

Home hasn't really felt like home lately.

It isn't until now Addison realizes that home doesn't have to be a place. Home could be anything you wanted it to be. Home could be a person. Home was wherever you felt the safest. Home was where the heart was.

Zed was—is—Addison's home and she's more than okay with that.

As Zed comes out of the classroom with Eliza in front of him and Bonzo tailing behind him, a grin on his face and delight etched into his features, Addison's heart thumps a little faster. As Zed tosses an arm over her shoulder and whispers, "Have I mentioned that you look stunning today, Mrs. Necrodopoulus?" Addison feels her heart skip a beat.

And as the five of them walk out of school, Addison feels whole.


	8. I Like Me Better

~Author's Note~

To sum this one-shot up: mature-ish material in the beginning, some humor and fighting in the middle and then some more mature-ish material to wrap things up at the end. Also for this story they are both sophomores so they've been dating for about a year or so.

This would've been up last night but thanks to a good few inches of snow my house lost power for like a day (lost it around 3:30pm yesterday, got it back around 2:00 this afternoon) so that was fun; sorry about that guys. Thank you guys for all of the support, as always!  
Quick Disclaimer: Zed and Addison's (mostly Zed's) views on music do not reflect my own opinion . . . just putting it out there so that no one comes after me. XD

 **Guest**  
Thank you for reading and sharing your thoughts!  
I'm already ahead of you . . . ;)

 **JustThatGirl**  
Awesome ideas! That very first one sounds like another idea I had early on but I like your spin on it and the rest are great too. I can't wait to get to these ones. Thank you for reading and sharing some ideas!

* * *

 **Prompt:**  
 _None._

 **Genre:** Romance and Humor  
 **Rating:** High K+/Low Teen?

* * *

 **8**  
I Like Me Better (When I'm With You)

* * *

The first time she hears it, he's in the shower.

They're at this point in their relationship where they keep clothes at each other's houses and her parents aren't home to throw a fit about a zombie, let alone her zombie boyfriend, using their shower so as soon as the pair make it through the front door Addison pushes him towards the bathroom. When Zed attempts to object from the bathroom doorway, Addison doesn't give him any room to argue as she shoves a bath towel and some clothes into his arms.

"Zed, I love you, but you reek from practice and I'm not coming near you until you smell better." Her nose scrunches up as if to prove her point and Zed chuckles, dropping the pile of necessities on the sink counter beside him.

He lifts an arm, sniffs, and his humorous expression immediately drops as he coughs and waves a hand. "Yeah okay, you win. I smell more like death than usual."

Addison smiles as she turns and starts to make her way to the kitchen, dropping her bag by a stool and making a beeline for the snack cabinet. "Hey Addy," Zed calls as he strips out of his tee-shirt.

"Yeah?"

"Would you like to join—"

"Stop stalling and get washed, Zed." She hears him mumble something and then close the door as she settled on finding an after-school snack.

She was now sitting on the couch in the living room watching some cooking show as she finished off her second strawberry pop tart, mind split between thinking about how willing her parents would be in letting two sixteen-year-olds hang out in Zed's empty house with Eliza, Bonzo and Bree for a fun night in that weekend and on the small fact that Zed was, at that very moment, getting a shower less than twenty feet away from her. And to _get_ a shower you had to be—

Addison shuts that thought down fast. She blames it on what Zed had asked before closing the door to the bathroom. She knew he had meant it as a joke, a frisky jab at where they were at in their relationship because her parents weren't home, but Addison's been thinking about it for far too long now and can't seem to stop.

They had their heated moments—of course they did, how could they not?—and Addison was fine with where they were at. She was completely, one-hundred percent fine with everything.

So . . . why was she still thinking about Zed in the shower?

Thankfully, it doesn't last long before her attention is grabbed by something else a little while later. She hears the water shut off and that's when she hears the singing, slightly shrill and abundantly careless, but captivating as ever.

(Whenever Zed sings, good or bad, it's something out a of fairy-tale. Always.)

The longer she listens, the more she feels like she knows the song. It starts to bug her that she can't think of who sings it so she pulls out her phone and brings up her Spotify, because they both share one account, and once it loads she laughs.

Taylor Swift.

Her big, bad zombie boyfriend is singing along to Taylor Swift?

Not that there's anything wrong with that, T-Swift is up there on Addison's favorite singers list, but just knowing that he knows all the words makes her chortle. Skimming through the rest of his playlist—dubbed _SHOWER JAMZ_ with yes, a _Z_ —Addison feels suddenly inspired.

Inspired with an urge to tease that is.

She can't wait.

It takes Zed about five minutes to get dressed and when he comes out and flops down on the couch next to her with his green hair still somewhat damp and smelling more like body wash than death itself, Addison finds her thoughts drifting again. She would just love to reach over and rake her hands through—

"What're we watching?" He asks, gaze directed at the TV.

His deep voice cuts through Addison's thoughts, efficiently stopping them before they had roamed too far. "A cooking show, I think?"

"Good choice."

They sit together in comfortable silence for a few minutes and Addison isn't actually listening to the woman listing off directions about how long to sear salmon for on the show, instead occupied with shooing away immodest thoughts and desperately trying to focus on the matter at hand which was making fun of her boyfriend for what he had on his Spotify playlist and not wanting to kiss him senseless.

"So," she says, keeping her tone light, "Taylor Swift?"

Zed flips towards her, "I knew it!" He cries and Addison can't help but laugh. "I knew you were going to make fun of me." He sighs, running a hand through his wet hair. "Listen Addy, there's an unspoken rule that we don't make fun of each other's playlists—"

Addison mutes the TV, stopping the woman mid-rant about how to not overdress the side salad. Zed snaps his mouth shut, sensing he's said something he shouldn't have. "What unspoken rule?" Addison inquires, turning her body fully towards him. Zed doesn't know if it's better to answer or to just stay quiet.

"W-Well," he starts to stutter but then Addison's eyes widen as she realizes what her boyfriend is implying. Zed's hands are already up in surrender before she even begins to speak.

"You said you loved my playlist!"

"No I . . . okay in my defense when you had asked you were holding a plastic cup and I knew that if I said no I was going to get whacked so I might've twisted the truth just a _little_ bit . . . "

Addison stares daggers. "What's wrong with my playlist, Zed?"

Zed's mouth falls open because there's no way in hell she really wants him to answer that. He'll be a little more than undead by the time she's through with him if he does. But she's looking at him expectantly and _oh man_ he's really going to have to answer her. "Addy," he tries, voice weak, "there's nothing _wrong_ with it per say—"

Addison's glare deepens and Zed knows he can't beat around the bush any longer.

"It's just all really," he struggles to find the right word, "girly?"

And no Zed, no, no, no that was _not_ the right word to use because Addison's somewhat composed look suddenly morphs to one of complete fury. Zed cowers just a little bit, pushing himself into the back cushion of the couch and he's never been one to enjoy superhero stories but in that moment he's really wishing he could turn invisible or teleport to Thailand because he wasn't going to survive this.

"How is my playlist girly?" Addison asks, deliberate and calm.

"W-Well girly really isn't—"

"Zed," she warns, refusing to let him go off topic and her boyfriend looks so terrified that if she wasn't currently offended she would've laughed outright because of the look that's plastered across his face.

"We Found Love, You Belong With Me, just to uh, name two . . . "

Addison reaches over and smacks him in the arm and Zed winces because damn that hurt—for such a small girl she packed a big punch—and his girlfriend doesn't even look regretful afterwards because why should she be? He was belittling her Spotify playlist!

"Do not diss on Rihanna and I just caught you listening to Taylor Swift in the shower so you can't say anything about her and besides, You Belong With Me is iconic, Zed, you know that."

Zed shrugs, "Okay, fine. But One Direction? Really, Addy?"

Addison's mouth drops open. "You can't not like at least one 1D song—"

"You also have not one, but two Shawn Mendes songs when the dude can't even sing."

"He can sing!" She protests, jumping up from the couch and jabbing a finger in Zed's direction. "If he couldn't sing he would've have half as many songs as he does now!" Zed stands up as well, facing her, their bodies a few inches apart from one another. Zed looks a cross between slightly smug about his knowledge of what was 'good' music and what was 'bad' music and slightly like he was enjoying this debate a little more than he actually should've.

Addison's never seen Zed smug and all she wants to do is wipe that small smirk right off his face. And though her hormones interrupt and say that he looks sexy right now with the mussed hair and the smirk and the obvious puffing of the chest Addison shoves those thoughts away—yet she doesn't disagree—and focuses back to the task at hand. "He can sing," she states. Zed raises an eyebrow.

Addison pushes away another onslaught of emotions from her avid hormones.

"And Shut Up and Dance? If _that_ isn't an overused song, I don't know what is." Addison's own eyebrows knit together as her lips curl into a frown. He wants to play hardball with her? Fine. Bring it on.

"At least I don't have every wannabe boy band on my girly playlist." Zed looks like a fish out of water, mouth opening and closing—floundering, really. "The Vamps? In Real Life? Everyone knows no one will be able to top the Backstreet Boys in that category."

"That's unfair," he responds, looking down at his feet. Then in a low mumble, "No one compares to the Backstreet Boys . . . "

Addison barrels on, undeterred. "And All Star. _All Star_. As if I haven't heard that a million times over," Zed's head flies up, his eyes meeting hers.

"How dare—"

"Kelly Clarkson, Imagine Dragons—"

"Those are both uplifting songs! I play those all the time and you've dropped some notes on Thunder before Addy and don't even _try_ to say otherwise!" Addison sighs, caught there. But she fights back with the same will as a small army.

"The rest of it is all dance—"

 _Are you really complaining?_ Her brain asks and no, she isn't because watching Zed dance is just _so_ —

"—which doesn't even count." The smirk's long gone from Zed's lips. Long gone. There's a few moments of silence and then out of nowhere Zed makes his move, attacking her playlist for all it's worth.

"You have Justin Bieber on your playlist!"

"So do you," Addison says, defensive.

"I have _2015_ Justin Bieber on my list. There is a huge difference between 2015 Biebs and 'baby, baby oh' Biebs—"

"You're still listening to Justin Bieber," she points out.

Zed continues on, unfazed. "Well what's with you having all these Disney alums on your list, huh? You got Sofia Carson, Sabrina Carpenter _and_ Hilary Duff who isn't even—"

"Zed if you talk bad about Hilary Duff I'm breaking up with you right here, I swear—"

Their noses are nearly touching they're so close. Zed lowers his voice, "I'm going to say what I want about Hilary Duff because you already came after Smash Mouth and no one, I repeat no one, is allowed to come after All Star so if anything I should be breaking up with you for you daring to shame such a classic jam!"

Addison doesn't back down. "You have Bamm on your playlist! How many times are going to play that in your zombie lifetime?" Zed looks like he's been shot at pointblank range, his face crumpling like a child's would after being told no.

"As many as I want to!" He stammers, struggling for a comeback. "You . . . you have Someday on yours! And I know for a fact that you listen to that every day during math class when we're doing our warm-ups." When Zed stops talking, there's nothing but silence between them. Addison seems to be at a loss for words.

"I love Someday," she finally says, firm, and yet her tone still wavers.

Zed feels the competition drain out of him. Something told him this wasn't a humorous, poking-fun-at-each-other fight anymore. Something told him he struck a chord he shouldn't have. He swallows past the lump that's unexpectedly formed in his throat.

"I love Someday too."

Addison turns away without another word and takes a seat back on the couch. Zed hesitates for a few seconds before joining her, keeping a safe distance between them, a visible gap separating them. He didn't mean to go too far. He'd never go too far on purpose. Ever.

A different cooking show is on now and the host of this one is a plump man with a black fedora on his head, angled to one side. He's demonstrating how to cut a raw chicken breast correctly when Zed feels a weight on his chest. He looks down from the TV to see Addison nestled up against his side, one of her hands resting where his heart should be.

Slowly, Zed wraps his arm around her and tugs her closer, gentle as anything. Addison doesn't reject the action and Zed takes that as a small success. There's an _I'm sorry_ sitting like a rock on his insides. He can't seem to get it out.

"I hate you," she mumbles from his chest and he holds back a laugh and smiles, pressing a kiss to her hairline as he pulls her closer to his chest reflexively.

"I hate you too hon," he mumbles back.

Neither of their words hold any irritation or hatred.

They're just . . . simple. Plain, voiced with the same tone you would use to address a random passerby. They don't really hate each other. They didn't hate each other, not really. They could never hate each other. A stupid little bickering match turned into a semi-fight wasn't going to hinder what they shared with each other. They loved each other. Their love couldn't be doubted. Nothing, not even an argument about music preferences, was going to change that.

If anything, it just made them stronger.

As they settle back against the couch, Addison toying with both of Zed's limp hands, Zed leaning down and peppering kisses all over her cheeks, their previous dispute is quickly forgotten. Soon it's Addison's hands moving through his green hair and Zed's hands running over her bare skin and whispered _I love you's_ in the late afternoon light.

They might dislike each other's playlists. They'll never dislike each other.


	9. Dancing in the Dark

~Author's Note~

Holy crap guys we hit 100 reviews! I'm so incredibly grateful to each and every one of you, thank you so much! I'll keep writing if you guys keep reading, deal? XD Keep those reviews, follows and favorites coming everyone and know that doing any of the above—and most importantly, even reading at all—is seriously appreciated. Thank you.

This one-shot was inspired by the events that conspired a few nights ago. I tried to keep it like at 2,000 words but, obviously, that didn't happen. Fluffy little one-shot with only a _little_ bit of serious undertones thrown in because I couldn't resist. And because Zed worries too much. Enjoy!

Oh and quick little poll/two questions for you guys:  
Do we have an official age for Zoey?  
And is Puppy a boy or a girl?

* * *

 **Prompt:**  
 _None._

 **Genre:** Romance and Family  
 **Rating:** K+

* * *

 **9  
** Dancing in the Dark

* * *

"And the winner of the million dollar grand prize is—"

The TV shuts off unexpectedly, along with the rest of the electric in the house, shrouding the two zombies and single human sandwiched on the couch in complete darkness.

"No!" Zed groans, dragging his hands down his face.

His voice echoes through the now noiseless home, bouncing off the walls and resounding upstairs. It's a shout loud enough to scare Puppy from her spot on Zoey's lap and she cowers, butting her wet nose into the girl's wrist. Addison reaches over and blindly fumbles for Puppy, feeling successful when she locates the bunches of tangled fur that tell her she found her head.

She scratches behind her ears and the dog calms but still begins to pant, showing her uneasiness about the whole situation. "Zed?" Zoey asks, tone hitched with abrupt fear and Addison hears some shuffling from his end of the couch.

Up until now, the night had been going good so far.

Definitely the best babysitting job Addison's ever had.

Zevon had to go back to work for a few hours that night to make up for the time he had missed when Zoey had a cold last week and Zed was the one who had come up with the idea to invite Addison over for some assistance with watching Zoey. Of course he was completely capable with watching her himself, he's done it more times than he could count, but it had been a while since the two girls had seen each other and hey, the more the merrier.

Zoey was onboard with the idea straightaway and after checking with his father ("No funny business Zed, you hear me? I understand you're two teenagers with urges—"

"I got it, Dad! I got it. No funny business. I promise."), he had called his girlfriend up and asked if she wanted to join him for a night in. She had accepted the offer happily and a few hours later she had arrived in Zombietown with a box of cheesy pizza, much to the two zombies' excitement.

After the three had finished off their impromptu dinner—Zoey had eaten more pizza than Zed, to Addison's complete surprise—they had played some games together.

Zoey won every game of charades, Addison kicked Zed's butt in Sorry even though she was missing two of her playing pieces, Zoey dominated in Mouse Trap and Zed wiped the floor with both girls in Disney Monopoly. And in the quick game of Life Zed and Addison played while Zoey was in the bathroom—Zed ended up with a husband, four kids, two cats and bragging rights because he somehow _won_.

Addison didn't think of herself as a sore loser . . . but after that win she gave Zed the silent treatment for about thirty minutes until he had trapped her in the kitchen between his chest and the wall and tickled her senseless until she finally gave in and started talking to him again.

They had only been watching TV for about fifteen minutes, Zed on the far side of the couch, Zoey in the middle with Puppy and Zander in her lap and Addison on her other side—who knew Zed was so into game shows—and now the power was out; right before they had announced the winner of the show, to Zed's displeasure.

"I'm right here sis," Zed voices as he reaches an arm out and squeezes her shoulder reassuringly before standing from the couch and stretching. Addison suddenly remembers Zed telling her that Zoey wasn't too fond of the dark and she feels her heart pull as she rests her own hand over top Zoey's, whose own is clutching Zander as tight as she can.

Addison watches Zed's shadowy outline move towards the hallway and look around the rest of the house before turning back to face the couch. "I'm gonna go and check the breaker. Zoey," and his tone takes on a softness he only uses when addressing his little sister, "I'll be right back, okay?"

Zoey takes a long second to answer. "Okay." Zed smiles, though no one can see it. He makes his way to the front door and exits the house, closing the door softly behind him and leaving Addison and Zoey alone.

Addison feels Zoey trembling after about a minute of silence and she instantly goes to work trying to think of something to do to distract her from the infinite darkness surrounding them. "Hey Zoey," she asks, gentle, "what do you think about scaring your brother when he comes back in?"

Puppy cocks her head to the side at the proposal and Zoey seems to forget about how scared she is of the dark because the amount of enthusiasm in her voice when she tells Addison "Yes!" is staggering but Addison just grins and accepts her answer without complaint.

"Alright. We have to hurry. Where's the best place to hide?"

Meanwhile, outside Zed curses himself for not grabbing a flashlight on the way out of the house because though he might know this place like the back of his hand he definitely doesn't know the circuit breaker as well.

He's able to get it open but what to do next is his biggest issue. He squints, trying to see if he can read anything, but it's useless. Everything in Zombietown is out and there's no above-head lights to assist him in his mission so with a resigned sigh and a shrug of his shoulders he flips each switch off and then on again.

After going through every one and finding that the house is still without power he closes the breaker and begins to make his way back around front. The entire power grid for Zombietown must be out if the whole town's dark and he just hopes it's nothing big. Thinking of what the humans have done in the past to zombies sends a shudder through his body and a shiver down his spine. They weren't that cruel anymore—they were above messing with the power . . . weren't they?

Him and Addison . . . changed things, didn't they?

Zed shoves the thoughts to the back of his mind.

The humans weren't messing with the power. That was ludicrous. It had been . . . maybe nine months since they had last messed with Zombietown's power. It was too long of a gap. In the past, at most they would wait three weeks tops before messing with something again.

He enters the house, putting a stop to his previous thoughts and instead filling in Addison and Zoey as he shuts and locks the front door. "It looks like the whole town is out but I don't think it'll be out for long. We'll light some candles and this place will be lit in no time." He chuckles at his own joke as he turns around, "Addy can you find—Addy? Zoey?"

He moves into the living room and when he doesn't see, or hear, anything panic coils in his gut. He tries to pacify the feeling as he starts to make his way through the house, calling their names as he goes. He needs to chill out. Nothing bad could've happened to them.

Humans didn't dare come into Zombietown when the lights were on so they wouldn't step anywhere near if the lights were off, they'd be too afraid. He knows for a fact that there's nothing dangerous in the house that the both of them could've gotten into. He knows he's being irrational but . . . he can't stop that fear from clawing at his insides.

The world has never been kind to zombies. He can't risk letting his guard down.

After searching all of the kitchen and poking his head into the bathroom just to check, he makes his way upstairs. The fifth step creaks as it always does when it's stepped on and he thinks he hears something to the right of him when he reaches the top of the stairs.

"Girls?" He calls suspiciously, turning his head when he hears something that sounds like stifled laughter from the coat closet a few feet away. He carefully advances, avoiding the small hole in the floor and the rotted wood after, and then his hand is on the door handle.

He hears a sharp _shh!_ as he begins to turn it and then grins before ripping the door open. "No one can hide from Zed the Zombie!" He says with a playful growl as he raises his arms like a zombie would but then his eyes focus and he realizes that there's no one in the closet.

"Boo!"

"Shi— _itake_ mushrooms!"

Zed barely catches the curse as it flies out of his mouth.

He must jump twenty feet in the air when the smaller pair of hands tug at the back of his tee-shirt and then another five feet when a second pair of hands pull him backwards. It scares him shitless, to put it bluntly, and when he turns around to both of his girls laughing hysterically, his cheeks turn bright red and he's never been more thankful that the power was out in his undead life.

Puppy barks, wagging her tail and jumping at Zed's knees and Zed exhales, falling back against the wall. Zoey's still laughing when Addison grapples for the flashlight tucked in her jacket pocket and she flicks it on, white light illumining the otherwise deserted hallway.

She moves it upwards so the shine is equal to Zed's chest, enough for them to be able to see but not enough for it to blind him and the smile etched on her face is almost worth the scare. "I guess Zed the Zombie isn't so fearless after all," she teases, her words an homage to their song.

Zed reaches out and intertwines his hand with her empty one, pulling her closer. The metallic flashlight is the only barrier between their chests touching. "Nah," he says, playing along, "I'm just rooting for us." Her smile grows and Zed takes back his prior thought because yeah—that smile is definitely worth the scare.

He chuckles softly before bringing his head down, fully intending to go in for a kiss and his lips just brush against hers when Zoey distracts him by pulling on the corner of his shirt's hem.

Addison takes a step back so Zoey can reach her brother and when Zed glances over at her she doesn't look mad at all. If anything, she looks proud and the smile on her face seems to have only grown more. Zed picks his sister up with an exaggerated grunt, holding her so that she's facing him, her tiny tummy pressed against his upper chest.

"We got you!" The six-year-old giggles and Zed groans, dropping his head so that his forehead gently rests against hers.

"You got me," he echoes in defeat, poking at her side and making her squirm. He hears Addison chuckle, the beam of light shaking because of the action. "Where were you guys hiding? I could've swore you two were in the closet." Zed lifts his head and sees the smile on his sister's face, the still-steady grin on Addison's.

"We were in your room behind the door!"

"Zoey came up with it all herself," Addison adds, "she said you would think we were in the coat closet. She was right."

"Betrayed by my own little sister," Zed says slowly, and then he roars and starts to tickle her. Puppy's barking from the floor, nipping at Zed's ankles in an attempt to protect her owner and Addison doesn't intervene until Zoey asks her to.

"Addy! Help! The zombie's got me!"

Addison props the flashlight on the floor, facing it towards where Zed's standing so that she can see what she's doing, and then goes in for the assist. She's able to get Zoey away from Zed with only a little bit of struggle and a lot of laughing, and once Zoey is free and Zed instead has Addison around the waist, the young zombie grabs the flashlight from the floor and takes off down the hallway, Puppy following behind her.

She runs into her father's room, giggling the whole way, and shuts the door, jumping on the bed and hiding under the tattered blankets, leaving Zed and Addison in complete darkness.

Zed's breathing heavy, mouth right by her ear, and his arms are _warm_ around her . . . or maybe that's just her. "Wow," he comments breathlessly, holding back a laugh, "she left you to the zombie." Addison smiles as he rests his chin on her shoulder.

"Well you aren't going to eat my brains, are you?"

Zed pretends to think it over, "Hmm, I don't know. You do look pretty delicious . . . "

She doesn't miss a beat. "No, no. I think you mean gorgeous."

Zed does chuckle this time, turning and pressing a kiss to her neck. "You're stunning, Addy." He whispers, tone deep and honest as anything, "Absolutely stunning." Then, as if he's reading her thoughts, "And no, I don't need a light to be able to see it, because I know. I know that it's true. Inside and out." Addison feels her cheeks heat up.

The amount of compliments he showers her with on a weekly basis is always shocking to her. She's never known someone so . . . nice. She's never known someone so caring, so truthful, so courageous, so determined to show and tell everyone he loves just how much he loves them. He never ceases to amaze her.

"I love you." She blurts, trying to convey how vastly grateful she is to have him, as her best friend and as her boyfriend, through her words. "I love you, so, _so_ much. I know we're young and I know people will say it's not possible to love someone as much as I do but . . . I do; and I will love you, always and forever." Zed's chest heaves suddenly and Addison wishes the lights were on so she could know why.

Is he . . . holding back tears? Does he not feel the same way? Did she just mess this whole thing up?

But then he carefully spins her around so he can kiss her and her doubts are taken away, along with her breath. One of his hands comes up to cup one of her cheeks and when he pulls back Addison feels like she's on cloud nine.

"I love you too," he murmurs, resting his forehead against hers. "Always and forever."

They stay like that for a little while longer, until they hear Puppy's bark and Zoey's loud scold of "Puppy, shh!" travel down the hallway and reach them. If they could share a look, they would. Instead, Zed pulls back, standing up straight. His hands find her waist so that he can still hold her in some way. "Zoey's gonna regret leaving you to a zombie."

Addison's eyebrows knit together in confusion, "What—?"

He raises his voice so that it's loud enough for Zoey to hear. "Because now there's _two_ zombies! Where did that little brat go?" His words are full of nothing but affection, "Any idea, Zombie Two?" Addison rolls her eyes, her mind instantly going to the Thing One and Thing Two reference he's referring to.

"Really?" She whispers, "Zombie One and Zombie Two?"

"It was the best I could think of!" Zed whispers back.

It takes everything within Addison not to laugh.

She raises her voice, "I think our meal went into that bedroom!"

When they enter the bedroom and find Zoey hidden under the blankets with Puppy and the flashlight, they raise their arms menacingly before double-teaming her. Puppy comes to her protection, going after Zed as Addison grabs the flashlight before someone gets hurt (because Zed's managed worse injuries before from simpler things) and Puppy tugs at his sleeve as he growls and lunges, blowing a raspberry against the bare skin of his sister's arm.

They play 'Zombie' for about an hour and once they all become tired and Zoey, begrudgingly, admits defeat they head downstairs and brighten the house up—literally. Zed lights some candles as Zoey gathers a bunch of blankets from her room and Addison makes them some bowls of ice-cream as she works on getting Zed's iPhone to download Netflix in the kitchen.

When they all meet back at the couch, they get settled; Zed against the arm of the couch, Addison shoulder-to-shoulder next to him and Zoey squeezed in-between them, each with a bowl of ice-cream (that's not vanilla) in their hands. Zed's iPhone is supported against a stack of books on the coffee table in front of them playing the beginning credits of Moana and Puppy is on the floor busy devouring her own bowl of ice-cream as the three dig into their own desserts.

An hour and forty-seven minutes later, the power is still out and Zoey's asleep, curled across Zed's lap. As Zed carries her, and Zander, upstairs to bed, Addison grabs his phone and checks the time before starting up another movie (How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days) and looking around the living room.

Puppy's asleep on her dog bed in the corner of the room and Addison knows once she wakes up she'll waddle upstairs and join Zoey on hers because you couldn't separate those two no matter what. Zed's dad still wasn't back yet, even with the time slowly inching towards nearly ten-thirty. Zed returns downstairs less than five minutes later, smiling at his girlfriend's movie choice as he starts to tidy up a little bit.

Something makes Zed's living room romantic, Addison realizes as her boyfriend moves around the room. Maybe it's the candles scattered from the front door to the couch, giving the room a soft glow. Maybe it's the way the light bounces off Zed's cheek and the shadow it gives his nose.

Something makes Zed's living room romantic and Addison finds herself unable to look away from the zombie cleaning up in front of her. "Addison?" He questions when he turns and sees her staring, a neatly folded blanket cradled in one arm. His voice brings Addison out of her thoughts.

"Yeah?"

His lips fit into a concerned smile, "You okay?"

"Of course," Addison says a little too quickly from her spot on the couch, nodding along, "I was just thinking about some . . . things." Zed drops the folded blanket on the back of the couch and takes a seat next to her, curious.

"About what?"

Don't say the candles make the room look romantic.

Don't say the candles make the room look romantic.

Don't say—

"I just . . . think the candles really make the room look romantic."

If Addison's brain could groan, it would.

Zed shifts his body towards her so that he's fully facing her. "Oh yeah?" He asks, quietly. Addison doesn't trust herself to speak so she nods instead. "Zoey's asleep," he says nonchalantly, though the eagerness in his face betrays him. He knows where this is going . . . if Addison's okay with it, of course.

Addison smiles and moves closer so that their faces are a few inches apart. "Are you sure?"

"That kid could sleep through a tornado," he affirms and he can't wait any longer as he closes the distance between them, cupping one of her cheeks as he goes, and his passionate kiss causes the butterflies stewing in her stomach to flutter wild.

When Zevon walks in on the two teens about twenty minutes later, they have a lot of explaining to do.


	10. A Zombie, Yet a Charmer (Celebrities AU)

~Author's Note~

I'm not going to say much because I know you guys just want to read so I'm only saying two things:  
Number one—would you guys like to see more of this universe? I think I can extend it some more if so and number two—thank you for reading, as always. Also this turned out way longer than it was supposed to be so hopefully that's okay?

Enjoy.

* * *

 **Prompt:**  
 _None.  
_ **Notes:**  
 _Celebrity AU_ \- _Part 2  
Same as last time: brackets are supposed to be the 'at' things._

 **Genre:** Romance, Friendship and some Humor  
 **Rating:** K+ (for language mostly)

* * *

 **10**  
a zombie, yet a charmer

* * *

O

 _addison-smith, elizzza, and 355 others liked your post._

O

* * *

"Who's Addison Smith?"

Zed freezes mid dance move and side-eyes Bonzo who shakes his head rapidly from his spot on a stool behind the kitchen bar. Eliza glances up from her cell phone, narrowing her eyes when neither of the boys answer.

"Are you two hiding something from me?" She questions, her suspicion mounting. Bonzo shakes his head again and lifts his soda can to his lips, taking a large gulp, leaving Zed at Eliza's mercy as he pauses the one-hit-wonder that was blaring through the villa.

Eliza was pretty dense when it came to social media, preferring to DJ the parties rather than post about them, and Zed had been betting on her pure obliviousness to save him from having to admit to her, his best friend of five years who seemed to know him better than he knew himself sometimes, that he had a crush on a girl he had yet to meet in person.

It had taken Bonzo a little over a month to convince Zed that it wasn't crazy to have a crush like this—so true, so deep, so sure—so fast and he had really thought he had a little bit longer before Eliza found out. (A few years. He was hoping for a few years to pass before he had to come clean.)

It wasn't that she would be callous about it or anything like that. She would tease but that was natural to her personality and she would offer advice like any good friend would; what Zed was most worried about was what her most humble, honest opinion of the whole situation would be.

Eliza, behind his father, younger sister and his dog Puppy, was his biggest supporter.

What she thought mattered to him, for better or for worse, and he knew this whole thing with Addison was crazy . . . so he was just worried Eliza wouldn't agree with this thing. At all. Though she was good at hiding it on the outside, Eliza was a very by-the-books type of person, which was quite ironic considering her day job was essentially throwing non-stop parties and Zed was sure telling her about this . . . _thing_ he had with Addison wasn't going to land him in her good graces.

Well, Zed muses as he clears his throat and finally opens his mouth to confess the truth to Eliza, at least he was able to keep this thing he had with Addison under wraps long enough to reach the fourth month mark. "She's—"

Luckily—unluckily?—Eliza cuts him off before he can even start to disclose anything. When he looks up from staring guiltily at his shoes, Eliza's nose is buried in her phone as she reads from, what he assumes, is Addison's Wikipedia page.

"Addison Marie Smith is an actress and model currently residing in Los Angeles, California. Addison Smith is most known for her various jobs in modeling. Her photos have ended up in magazines like Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Teen Vogue, and Seventeen. She's also made a name for herself in the acting genre quite fast considering she's new to the acting game, having landed roles in multiple television shows and web shorts all within her first two years as an actress. Addison has also expressed an interest in music, but nothing has yet to be released."

Eliza goes quiet as she scrolls further down the page. Zed and Bonzo look nervously between each other. This could end in one of two ways. Either Eliza is going to be happy with the information she gathers, or she's going to grill them for more. Both teens hope it turns out to be the former.

"Addison's current projects include her first big break in a major motion picture—Poms—as the leading role, and as a guest star on new TV show Get Well Soon. Get Well Soon is set to premiere later this year, and it is unknown how many episodes Addison will star in. In Poms, Addison plays as a cheerleader struggling to fit in and be as perfect as possible for the tiny town of Pierson City, where the rules are that if you aren't perfect, you aren't allowed. This would be easy for her to do, if not for the dark secret she's been hiding all her life, and her freshman year at Pierson High might just be enough for that secret to come out. Poms is in post-production and is set to release June 27th, 2018."

Eliza didn't need to read that part out loud. Zed already knew the date like the back of his hand, and he was already trying to come up with some amazing way to ask Addison out to see it. Though the fact that he still didn't know her in person had put a stop to that idea for now . . .

"Addison is an only child and is very close to her best friend—singer Bree Simmons—who is also set to release her own clothing line next year; the two girls grew up and found stardom together. Addison supports equal rights movements and has donated to over twenty different charities across the globe." When Eliza finishes, Bonzo takes another sip of his soda. He's hoping that having his mouth full of soda will deter her from interrogating him specifically.

"She's cute," Eliza remarks a little too knowingly after about a minute of sheer silence and Bonzo feels like she already knows. Zed's a little more oblivious.

"You could say that."

Bonzo releases the breath he didn't even know he was holding. At least Zed was smart enough to not call Addison pretty in front of Eliza because that would've sure as _hell_ given him away. Once Zed compliments Addison, there's no stopping that thought process. (Bonzo's gotten nothing but earfuls of it since Zed became smitten with her.)

Eliza clicks the lock button on her phone and drops it on her lap, pining Zed with a potent stare.

"Spill it, Z." She finally says, leaning back on the recliner and crossing her arms. "How long have you been talking with this girl?"

Zed gapes like a fish pulled out of water; hook, line and sinker.

Bonzo sighs—the gig's up. Damn. It takes Zed a few dazed moments to respond. "Almost four and a half months," he admits as he takes a seat on the coffee table separating them, fumbling with his hands. "What gave it away?"

Eliza allows a smile to cross her lips, "You weren't surprised when I was reading her bio," she says, her tone knowing, "and you smiled when I mentioned the premiere date of her movie."

"I did?" Zed asks, looking over at Bonzo for confirmation.

The other boy just shrugs, unsure himself. He wasn't paying _that_ much attention. Eliza sighs, pressing the palms of her hands to her eyes and rubbing. "I was watching you the whole time Zed," she states, voice muffled by her hands, "you're so easy to read." Pulling her hands back, "I can't believe you hid this from me for _four_ months. Why, Z?"

One of his legs is bouncing up and down and he shrugs at the question, exhaling. "I was—worried."

Confusion covers Eliza's face, "Worried? Worried about what?"

Zed finally meets her piercing gaze, "I was worried about what you would think . . . worried you were going to tell me to find someone different or something stupid like that." Eliza's quiet for a long moment.

"Well _you_ are stupid if you thought I was going to tell you to 'find somebody different'. Zed, I'm only tough on you and your nonexistent love life because I just want you happy. Apparently you misunderstood my tough love . . . don't ever think I won't support you. I will always support you in something like this. Obviously, or not as obviously to me, this girl makes you happy and that's all I want for you, Z."

Eliza pauses, debating on if she should say her next words or not. "I'm hurt you didn't tell me."

Zed smiles and shakes his head before standing up and walking over to Eliza, holding out a hand. "Apology ice-cream on me?" Eliza glances from his outstretched hand to his remorseful expression. "Nothing vanilla, I promise. Everything chocolate." He swears, and it's enough for her to take his hand.

He pulls her up from the chair and Eliza pulls her hand back as soon as she's standing. "Love you E," he says as the three of them head towards the front door and Eliza just rolls her eyes.

"Love you too, stupid." But her words betray her because they don't hold any hate, only fondness.

Zed decides not to point that out.

* * *

 _zed-the-zombie posted a photo._  
[Zed, Eliza and Bonzo sitting around a table with massive amounts of chocolate ice-cream waiting to be eaten.]  
zed-the-zombie: i would say we're the three musketeers but Eliza despises that reference more than she despises me.

[5m] addison-smith: but aren't you still making the reference by saying that?  
[4m] zed-the-zombie: …  
[3m] addison-smith: [elizzza]  
[2m] zed-the-zombie: i'm in shock right now  
[2m] zed-the-zombie: did you really just  
[1m] zed-the-zombie: TAG HER are you trying to get me killed?

 _addison-smith liked your comment._

[2s] elizzza: HA I like this girl already.

O

 _zed-the-zombie posted a photo._  
[Zed holding up an oatmeal cookie that's the size of his face.]  
zed-the-zombie: my life is complete

[8m] addison-smith: oh my god. you're bringing me one, right?  
[4m] zed-the-zombie: of course, babe.  
[3m] zed-the-zombie: anything for you

O

—Instagram Direct Messaging—  
 _To: zed-the-zombie_

addison-smith: I thought we were past the 'babe' nickname  
zed-the-zombie: whoever said that?  
addison-smith: you. me. us  
addison-smith: we had a whole conversation about it, zombie  
zed-the-zombie: i recall no such conversation, babe.

* * *

Some nights Zed can't sleep and he finds himself wandering to Addison's Instagram profile.

 _ **addison-smith**  
_ _1,011 pictures  
_ _86k followers  
_ _99 following_

Looking through her beautiful pictures always makes him smile, and the more he flicks through, the sleepier he gets. He's asked Bonzo if it's stalker-ish, to fall asleep looking through a girl's online pictures, but his friend had just smiled and shook his head at the question.

Her earlier pictures are mostly of her mom and dad; Mom gardening in the backyard and picking out the brightest roses, multiple pictures of her dad dressed up in a crisp tuxedo for some white-collar event with his hair smoothed back and silver wedding band bright as ever against the dark contrast of his black suit and tie. There's even more pictures of her and Bree, so many that it's like a maze trying to get through them, and then there's the scenery pictures.

A close-up of a blue lily blooming in the early morning. A wide-shot of the sky's pink horizon with the caption _tomorrow's another day_. A group photo of her, Bucky and Bree with the words _besties_ stapled underneath. And for such a skinny girl she has a lot of pictures of food but all they do is make Zed's soft smile pull into an all-out grin.

His favorite pictures, though, are the ones of her.

Every single one, no matter what angle it's from, who takes it or what she's doing—every single one is breath-taking. Every single one makes his heart pound just a little faster. He can't wait to meet her in person.

Someday, he thinks as he stares at a photo of Addison (that she—at the time—clearly had no idea was being taken) lounged on a couch, her blonde hair pulled into a messy bun, number two pencil between her lips, laptop balanced on one leg while an open notebook full of scrawled notes is on resting on the other. She doesn't have any makeup on and she's wearing the baggiest sweatshirt Zed's ever seen.

It's Zed's favorite picture.

Because in this picture, there's no celebrity.

In this picture, it's just Addison. Not Addison Smith or Addison Smith the actress or Addison Smith the model or addison-smith from Instagram.

No, in this picture it's just . . . Addy.

In this picture, it's just Addy and a hope of someday.

* * *

 _addison-smith posted a photo._  
[Close-Up of Addison as she lifts a Starbucks mug to her lips.]

[1h] zed-the-zombie: you're literally addicted to starbucks  
[1h] zed-the-zombie: which literally makes you a cliché  
[20m] addison-smith: are you poking fun at my addiction?

 _zed-the-zombie liked your comment._

[17m] zed-the-zombie: only a little bit

O

 _addison-smith posted a photo._  
[Wide-Shot of Bucky giving Addison a side-hug on the beach, both with huge smiles on their faces.]  
addison-smith: my cuz bucky's the man

[22m] zed-the-zombie: looking beautiful as always, babe  
[16m] addison-smith: sometimes i think you say things just to get on my good side  
[10m] zed-the-zombie: me? never.  
[9m] ll bucky ll: zombie boy! put a ring on it already  
[7m] ll bucky ll: [zed-the-zombie]  
[2m] addison-smith: i think you scared him away  
[49s] zed-the-zombie: so one oatmeal cookie and one diamond ring  
[30s] zed-the-zombie: anything else i can get for you, gorgeous?  
[1s] addison-smith: you

 _zed-the-zombie liked your comment._

O

addison-smith:  
 _elizzza started following you._

O

elizzza:  
 _addison-smith started following you._

* * *

"You know she only lives two hours away from you?" Eliza comments offhandedly one day at lunch while picking the lettuce off her burger. Zed looks up from his own cheeseburger, confusion scribbled across his face.

"What?" Zed and Addison have been talking for about six months now. Phone calls, FaceTimes, direct messages, text messages, they've done it all. Their . . . friendship . . . is staying strong and Zed's crush is only growing.

Eliza successfully removes all of the lettuce and plops the toasted bun back on top of her burger with a semi-triumphant smile. "That Smith girl. Addison? I put some of my computer skills—"

"You mean hacking skills," Zed interrupts, not unkindly. Eliza shoots him a glare at the correction and then continues on, undeterred.

"—to the test and as it turns out she's not that far from here."

Zed avoids having to answer by taking a huge bite out of his burger and Eliza makes a disgusted face at the line of grease that dribbles from the corner of his mouth as he chews. She pulls a few brown paper napkins from the humongous pile beside her tray and throws them at him, Zed catching them midair with a half-smile. There was a reason she always asked for extra napkins whenever they went out to eat someplace.

"You sure do act like a zombie," she gripes as Zed rolls his eyes and returns his burger to the tray so he can wipe his mouth.

"You always say that, E." He replies dryly, grabbing a handful of French fries.

"Only because it's true." Eliza says matter-of-factly as she takes a small bite of her own meal.

Zed was one of the messiest eaters around. Actually—he _was_ the messiest eater around. Eliza didn't know how he did it but during every meal, something ended up somewhere it wasn't supposed to be—grease down his chin, mustard on an expensive polo, mayo on his brand new jeans, ketchup by his forehead—you name it and Zed's done it. Somehow.

If she could she would put him in the world record book for 'most shirts ruined by food'.

"So why are you telling me this?" Zed asks after a few minutes of relaxed silence, his burger already seventy-five percent demolished. "Just because she lives _kinda_ close by doesn't mean anything. It still couldn't ever work . . . I mean I haven't even met her in person yet, Eliza, and I like her! I like her and I shouldn't." He pauses, taking a long swig of his drink, "She could do a million times better than me. Like that guy she always takes pictures with, Bill? Buckley?"

"Bucky," Eliza corrects, "he's her cousin right?"

Zed nods, "Yeah. He knows a lot of people. A _lot_ of people. He could hook her up with anyone she wanted."

He sighs, bringing his gaze down to his food, "She's gorgeous, Eliza. She's goddamn gorgeous. Why pick a guy with green hair when your good-looking cousin could hook you up with whatever guy you wanted to be with? She could do so much better than me."

Eliza's quiet for a long moment. "Okay."

She reaches a hand out and grabs one of his, squeezing. "Zed." He lifts his head, meeting her steely stare. "You're getting ahead of yourself here. First off, you have to stop thinking like this. Seriously. You're putting yourself down for no reason. Secondly; I think you need to meet this girl. ASAP. Everything will work itself out after you guys actually interact with each other— _in person_. You'll be able to feel each other out and you will definitely be able to see if she feels the same way you do."

Zed looks hopeful now and Eliza feels proud that she was able to get that speech out of herself without butchering it or saying the wrong thing. "You just need to meet her Z." She finishes, gently pulling her hand back. "Set a date or something. Okay?"

"I never knew you were so good with words," Zed proclaims after a minute and Eliza groans.

"Shut up," she grumbles halfheartedly making him laugh.

Zed finishes off his meal in the amount of time it takes Eliza to get through roughly half of her burger and as she lifts a fry to her lips and chews, she offers one final thought.

"I'm just saying that if things work out, you two could date. Two hours is nothing for love." She's teasing but she's also being serious and it makes Zed grin.

"Thanks E," He says quietly, yet sincerely, and Eliza hides her own smile behind the bun of her burger.

* * *

 _zed-the-zombie posted a photo._  
[Screenshot of Addison and himself on FaceTime; Addison's laughing, mouth nearly wide open and Zed has a soft smile on his face as he looks into the phone camera.]  
zed-the-zombie: a girl and a zombie

 _addison-smith, elizzza, bree-sings and 2,092 others liked your post._

[15m] addison-smith: i want to be mad but your timing is too perfect  
[13m] zed-the-zombie: i know  
[10m] zed-the-zombie: i'm great aren't i?  
[59s] addison-smith: no comment

O

 _addison-smith posted a photo._  
[Screenshot of a blurb of iPhone text messages between her and Zed;  
'zed: what does it take to become a zombie?  
addison: i don't know, what?  
zed: DEADication  
zed: why didn't the zombie get the acting role?  
addison: why  
zed: they wanted someone more lively  
zed: hahah  
zed: get it?  
zed: …addy?']  
addison-smith: what do you call an annoying zombie?

[1m] addison-smith: answer—dead.  
[40s] zed-the-zombie: i'm more offended that you still haven't answered me  
[35s] zed-the-zombie: also if i'm a zombie then i'm technically already dead…  
[20s] zed-the-zombie: but you do you  
[13s] zed-the-zombie: love you!  
[2s] zed-the-zombie: please don't kill me.

O

New Text Message from _Addy_  
Addy: smartass

* * *

"Thank you," Addison says as she trades a ten dollar bill for her large to-go Starbucks hot chocolate with extra chocolate, "keep the change." The barista looks pleasantly surprised as she takes the money and the expression on her face makes Addison smile as she turns away from the counter.

Hot chocolate to help calm her nerves before her big audition, check.

As she exits the shop she checks her emails and the time, which she still has plenty of, and begins to make her way down the street, avoiding distracted businessmen and annoyed college kids as she goes.

Her parents had offered to drive her to her audition but after they had been driving all morning she had declined, telling them she wanted to stop at a Starbucks and mosey through the town a little beforehand. It wasn't much different from where she was living but the—albeit small—change in scenery was nice.

Her phone chimes and Addison glances down, a smile appearing on her face once she sees who it is texting her.

zed: hey gorgeous  
zed: how much longer until your audition?

They just passed the nine month mark last week. She still can't believe they've been talking with each other for that long. It's insane . . . but a good kind of insane, if there even is one. She looks up to make sure she isn't going to run into anyone before looking back down and typing out a quick reply.

addison: hey zombie. not too long now.  
addison: i'm nervous  
addison: what if i mess up?

Addison's careful in checking both ways before crossing the street intersection and Zed texts back almost immediately, his words soothing the anxious storm raging in her gut.

zed: you aren't going to.  
zed: you're going to do amazing, addy. a-maz-ing.

Without any warning, Addison suddenly rams into someone full force. She gasps, expecting to fall, and if the person wasn't so steady on their feet they both would've, but he catches himself and then her with a warm hand on her upper arm. Addison looks up from her phone, an apology already tumbling from her lips. "I am _so_ sorry, I wasn't paying attention and—"

Green hair.

The stranger has green hair that's attractively messy on top of his head and kind eyes, an even kinder smile. His iPhone case is black with neon green stripes—she's seen that before—and he's wearing a grey sweatshirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing a black band on his left wrist with a metal twist in the middle and she's seen that before too.

He's tall, extremely tall he _towers_ over her like a building would, and he's skinny but his tan arms have some lean muscle to them and his sweatpants have a Nike swoosh down the side and she also recognizes his shoes—

And it's with a sudden burst of butterflies in her stomach and a skip in her heartbeat that Addison realizes this stranger isn't a stranger at all.

"Oh my God. Zed?"

Zed's eyes are widened but the shock is already faded and when he hears her voice his face seems to light up and he's already tucking his phone into his pocket and reaching out for her for a hug when her name sneaks past his lips in a whisper. "Addy."

A watery chuckle escapes her as he winds his arms around her and she doesn't waste a second in hugging him back. Her own arms wrap around his neck and he laughs too. "Holy crap," he breathes out with another laugh, " _holy_ crap. You're here."

"Charming," she teases softly and then, "yeah. I'm here."

Zed just laughs again in answer and this time his laugh sounds watery too.

"Miss me, zombie?" She questions in a whisper when the silence stretches on for too long and he just holds her tighter in response.

"Always."


	11. Untitled

~Author's Note~

More parts will be coming for the Celebrity AU—just not one after another. They are, surprisingly, incredibly difficult to format and all so putting one right after another is out. However, maybe every five chapters could work? Let me know what you guys think down below.

Super, super happy to hear you guys loved Part 2 of the Celebrity AU!  
Thank you all for the support! :)

* * *

 **Prompt:**  
 _None._

 **Genre:** Romance and Family  
 **Rating:** K+

* * *

 **11  
** Untitled

* * *

Addison's awakened by the sound of crying.

She's instantly awake, albeit still a little groggy, as she fumbles to flick on the lamp beside her bed and move out from under the covers but a hand on her arm stops her. "I got her," her husband says as he begins to shimmy out of bed, sounding more awake than he should be.

Addison sits up, "No it's fine, I'll get her—"

"Addy," he interjects, twisting around to look at her, "it's okay. We just got back from the hospital less than three days ago and you've been carrying our little bundle of joy in your stomach for ten months. That's a lot and I know you're exhausted." He stands up from the bed, the light from the small lamp giving his pale skin a yellowish hue, and he turns around so she can see the smile on his face. "We're a team, Addy. Now it's my turn."

He leans across the covers and gives her a chaste kiss before walking over to the crib a few feet away and picking up their newborn daughter, shushing her lovingly as he cradles her to his bare chest. Addison watches him in quiet awe as he moves around the room, rocking her as gently as possible, whispering nothings, like it's only him and his daughter in the room, like Addison isn't there.

He paces around the room until that gets boring and decides the baby and him need a change of scenery as he walks out the opened doorway and down the hallway, slowly making his way through their home, talking to her the whole way.

Addison can't get rid of the smile on her face as she scooches over to her husband's side of the bed and pulls the comforter up to her chin, basking in the warmth he left behind for a long moment before glancing over at the alarm clock on her nightstand for the time.

3:42 AM.

She sighs, closing her eyes.

Zed did have a point. She was exhausted. Having a baby was no easy feat. She was absolutely drained and though little Annabelle was pretty amazing with her sleeping patterns so far, the sleep Addison _was_ getting was scattered. She found herself sore and uncomfortable more often than not and most of the time that she should've been spending sleeping was getting spent readjusting or with her staring at the ceiling because waking Zed so that he could keep her company wasn't an option; he need his sleep too (though she does cave on two out of the three nights they've been home, waking him gently, and he didn't mind one bit).

Zed was faring better. His sleeping pattern followed Annabelle—whenever she dozed off, he did too. Sometimes though, like tonight, he found himself unable to sleep; worry about far too many things clouding his mind and not allowing him to settle.

It's been constant since before Annabelle was born and he's kept Addison in the dark about it but for all the right reasons. She had been grumpy and pregnant just a week ago and now she just had their baby, his whole world—he had loved her from the first second he had saw her little bald head—and she didn't need any other stress. He could handle it. Just like he could handle being a father.

It was dangerous, having a baby. Wanting a baby.

It had never been done before so there was no former knowledge or charts of success rates or anything like that. It was a huge risk. But Addison and Zed had always wanted a family. Addison knew since she was old enough to fathom such a thing. Zed knew after Zoey came into his life.

Together they decided that doing this, being living examples of something that was so wrong so many years ago, could give other people hope—if there were any others, any other zombie-human couples out there besides Bree and Bonzo—Zed and Addison wanted the world to see that anything was possible as long as love was somewhere in the equation.

Some doctors they saw deemed it impossible for them to ever have a child—some even went as far to say _don't even bother trying_.

Others worried about the possibility of a human-zombie hybrid and maliciously told them not to try because they could create a new species that wasn't going to be welcomed anywhere, let alone Seabrook.

One doctor told them that it was possible for them to have a baby, because a zombie had all the same parts as a human, and that the only thing he wasn't sure of was if the baby would come out foaming at the mouth for brains or with rosy skin and an urge to cheer.

Some threatened action— _if you go through with this I will file a formal complaint with the Seabrook Patrol_ —and other things like it.

Though Addison's father was no longer the head of the Zombie Patrol, now renamed to Seabrook Patrol, and though her mother was no longer the mayor, she still had connections so she wasn't too worried about the threats. Gus' eldest son was in charge of the Seabrook Patrol now and Stacey's half-brother was coming up on his third year as Seabrook's new mayor.

They saw so many doctors, even traveled out of town to the best specialists, but the bottom line was that nobody had an answer for them. In all of human history, no human had ever fallen in love with a zombie, let alone wanted to have a baby with one. Zed and Addison just liked to defy the universe every chance they got.

Annabelle Hope was born a year and a half later with only minor complications on Addison's end. Her name came from Zed brainstorming one day, trying out names with the letter A because he had told Addison before she was even pregnant that he wanted their baby named after her. She had fought him on it at first, saying how they should name the baby after his mother or Zoey, but he had refused and pushed for a name with the letter A.

"Right from the start you caught my eye, and something inside me came to life . . . "

Addison opens her eyes when she hears singing.

It's faint, almost like it's her imagination, but it's not. It's Zed. She'd know that sweet singing voice anywhere. Curiosity takes over as she slides out from underneath the quilt and strolls to the doorway, peaking her head out. Their hallway leads right into the living room, where Zed is currently standing with Annabelle. He has the kitchen light on, soft white light stretching into the living room and illuminating him.

Life has been kind to him so far; at twenty five years of age he's healthy and doesn't look a day older than twenty. His green hair is in the same style as it was back in high school—he'll never change it at this rate, not that Addison minds—though the green isn't as bright anymore. Addison's eyes trace his sharp jawline and the bend of his lips before moving down to the bundle of pink in his arms.

From this angle she can't see her beautiful blue eyes or her perfect little nose but she can see her graying skin. When she was born, it was the same color as Addison's and already it was turning grey, but slowly, very slowly. Right now it was tan but not, and Addison knew it was only a matter of time before it turned the same shade as Zed's. It wouldn't make her love her any less.

As Zed easily makes his way around the room with Annabelle, Addison takes in the rest of her husband's appearance. His black sweatpants are low, allowing the green band of his boxers to be seen and it makes her smile as she brings her mind out of the gutter and her gaze back to his upper half. He's still lean as anything, but his arms are a little bigger now, and so is his chest.

Curves of muscle are evident in his arms, his shoulders, his chest—his abs especially, in Addison's personal preference, but that's a story for another time—but it's him that she's in love with. She still doesn't know how she got so lucky to have a guy like him fall in love with a girl like her.

Addison's pulled out of her thoughts when she hears Zed murmur something to Annabelle that she doesn't catch. She moves out of the doorway and into the hallway and has to strain her ears so that she can hear what he's saying to the baby burrowed in his arms as she moves into the living room.

"You like that, huh?" He asks Annabelle, who blinks up at him, watching him with half-lidded eyes. He smiles, singing some more, keeping his voice soft, quiet, so that he doesn't scare her. "Someday, this could be, this could be ordinary. Someday, could we be something extraordinary? You and me side by side—"

Annabelle's face suddenly scrunches up and Zed's eyes widen as she starts to cry and he panics just a little, rocking her a little more noticeably. "Hey, hey Annabelle, shh. Shh. You're okay. Daddy's gottca. Daddy's gottca, shh."

Addison starts to move towards him, worried that he needs some assistance but then Zed starts singing again and she freezes at the same time Annabelle quiets.

"Hey, welcome to Zombieland. It's a party, go ahead, everybody dance, do the draggy leg, you surely can be a part of the team, gotta wave the flag." Addison moves closer as Zed continues singing, Annabelle watching his face intently. "Bet you can't do it like I can. Bamm!" And he whispers it so, so quiet, but it still makes her jump. She doesn't fuss otherwise. "Oh man, oh man, you a fan—understand, this is Zombieland."

Annabelle coos then, and it could be mistaken for a cry but Addison doesn't think it is, not really. She looks too happy to be crying. "You like Bamm better than Someday, baby girl? Your Momma's not gonna like that." He chuckles to himself and Addison decides to make herself known after he starts humming another song.

"Technically it's nine months, not ten." She says softly in reference to what he had said earlier as she comes into his view, "And give her time. She'll like Someday . . . someday."

When Zed sees his wife approach he smiles, nodding his head towards the little bundle nestled in his strong arms. Now that she's closer, Addison can see an untouched bottle of milk on the kitchen counter next to where he's standing.

"I think she was just a little lonely. Her diaper's clean and she wasn't hungry."

Addison rolls her eyes, "Lonely might be a stretch, Zed. She was probably just uncomfortable." She tilts her head towards his chest, "Apparently you're more comfortable than her crib."

"Like mother like daughter," Zed says with a knowing look and if he wasn't holding the baby Addison would've socked him in the arm. Instead she crosses her arms and lets him get away with it because really? He wasn't wrong. She enjoys laying on his chest more than she enjoys laying on some lumpy pillow. Zed looks back down at Annabelle. "I think she's a daddy's girl already."

"I think she just likes being coddled because she's a newborn," Addison says back and Zed chuckles softly.

"Someone's jealous," he sings as he lifts a thumb to Annabelle's cheek and wipes away a lone tear and it's then that his daughter's lips form what looks to be a genuine smile.

"Hey Addy, Addy look she's smiling at me!"

Zed brings her down so that Addison doesn't have to stand on her tiptoes to see for herself when she closes the short distance between them and sure enough there's the smallest of smiles on Annabelle's face but then she gets a whiff of something, that something being the reason why the baby's smiling, and she chortles, Zed glancing over at her in confusion.

"She's smiling because she's passing gas, hon," Addison whispers and Zed makes a face. But then Annabelle's eyelids start to close and both adults are noiseless as they share a look and then make their way back to the bedroom.

By the time Zed places Annabelle back in her crib, she's sound asleep and if it wasn't after four in the morning he would've cheered. He's pretty damn good with putting her to sleep, if he said so himself.

Dad: 4.

Baby: 0.

Addison leans down and leaves a kiss on Annabelle's forehead before joining Zed in bed. He grapples for the remote and then turns on the TV, flipping to a random channel and turning the volume down to a measly two. He then turns on the captions so he can follow along as Addison relaxes against his chest, her head over where his heart should be beating.

It's some random show with someone standing at a brown podium speaking into a microphone about zombies, of all things. Zed sighs and wraps an arm around Addison, pulling her close as he leans back against his pillow.

"Is she going to be okay out there?" He asks, his voice a rumble of thunder in a seemingly silent storm, "Out in Seabrook?"

The man behind the podium is rejected from his spot, replaced by a stern-looking woman. "Well," Addison says, reaching a hand up and twirling a strand of her white hair with a finger, "it looks like it skipped a generation again so we won't have to worry about her being picked on for having hair like mine."

"Hey," Zed exclaims, "your hair is beautiful."

Addison lowers her hand and rests it on his stomach, "I know you think so hon but we both know the rest of the world disagrees." The woman on-screen is suddenly switched with a short, plump man. "I think she's going to be full zombie, Zed." She pauses, "Which is fine because things have changed now."

"Yeah," Zed agrees, stroking her arm absentmindedly, "yeah."

His hand finds one of hers after a few minutes of silence and she squeezes it, trying her best to reassure him. "Whatever happens Zed, we'll get through it. We always do and we always will." Addison shifts, getting as comfortable as she can. Sleep starts to tug at her and she yawns, snuggling into him. "I love you," she mumbles, finding so much solace being near him like this, "I love you so much."

"I love you too Addy," he mumbles back, "Annabelle and you . . . both of you are my entire world."

The short man on-screen says something into the microphone. The captions read, "I say zombies don't deserve to be here. They don't deserve to be free or allowed anywhere besides their precious Zombietown. We should have strict rules for the creatures, not lenient ones. They don't belong anywhere in Seabrook or anywhere in the world. I demand that action be taken. Immediately."

Zed's quiet for a long moment. Sleep seems too far away for him to grasp.

"Always," he whispers.

He doesn't know if he's saying it to Addison, Annabelle or himself.

* * *

~Author's Note~  
This was supposed to be pure fluff but then that ending happened . . . I'm sorry. Angst is my thing . . .  
In case you couldn't tell already, there is so much I can't wait to get into with the whole 'Zed and Addison want a kid' thing in the future. I brushed on some stuff that I think would happen in here but there's still so much more. Oh and being able to refer to Zed and Addison as husband and wife is the best thing ever.


	12. Spring Cleaning

~Author's Note~

Hey guys! I'm so sorry for the sudden two month (?) absence! Sometimes I just take a break from writing without meaning to do it and this was one of those times. I'm back now though and ready to hit the ground running. So I got this idea around Easter and I've been trying to write this _since_ Easter and I realize we're way past Easter now but I wasn't just gonna scrap this so this is basically just some super, super delayed holiday fluff?

This was also supposed to be 2,000 words, not 4,000 but hey that's just more for you guys to read, right? XD Thank you guys so much for all of the support I still received on this story even though I wasn't updating, and for reaching 100 follows. I probably don't deserve them since you guys had to wait so long for an update but reviews would seriously mean a ton—I'd love to hear what you guys think, or if anyone's got any new prompts!

Enjoy! :D  
 ***** For anyone who has sent me a PM message I will be getting back to you within the next few days!

* * *

 **Prompt:**  
 _None._  
 **Notes:**  
 _Since I forgot to mention it in the story, Zed and Addison are young adults in this so I'm saying their ages are 23 and 22, respectively._

 **Genre:** Romance  
 **Rating:** K+ for lots of kissing and two curse words?

* * *

 **12  
** Spring Cleaning

* * *

"Zed honey, please just wait for Bonzo to get here to help you. You're going to get hurt."

"I'm not going to get hurt," dismisses her zombie boyfriend as he lifts up the yellow drill and begins to undo the screw buried deep in the living room wall. Addison sighs worriedly, taking a small sip from the _(My)_ _#1 Cheerleader_ mug clutched tightly in her hands.

She waits for the whir of the drill to stop before speaking again, Zed popping the screw from the wall and dropping it into the small collection of nails and bolts sitting in the container on the bookshelf next to him. "Zed we both know that shelf weighs a ton, and that's without all my cheer memories sitting on top of it. Everyone is going to be here in less than fifteen minutes. Can't this wait until then?"

Zed doesn't answer, too busy mumbling to himself as he messes with the next screw. It just so happens to be a partially stubborn one at that and won't budge one bit, no matter how much he attempts to dislodge it. His girlfriend taps her nails against the side of her mug in disquiet.

"You know," she continues, louder this time so that she's sure she catches his attention, "just so that you have some backup in your mission of rearranging the _entire_ _apartment_ right before guests come over for Easter dinner." Zed smiles at that, holding back his chuckle.

"Speaking of, dinner smells delicious."

They had elected to be the chosen house for hosting Easter Dinner this year and everyone was coming over. Eliza, her mom, Bonzo, his dad, Bree, her parents, Addison's parents, Zed's dad, Zoey, Zander and last but not least Puppy.

Their apartment is a simple one—two bedrooms and one bath with a comfortably-large living room and medium-sized kitchen. Their living room is set up simple yet elegantly, with a leather couch facing away from the front door and towards their flat screen TV and a lone loveseat across from it. There's a huge mahogany bookshelf pushed against the first wall you look at when you enter and it's decorated with books, knickknacks and movies that the young couple enjoy. Next to the bookshelf is the smaller singular shelf Zed's trying to move and below that is nothing but empty space because Addison hasn't quite figured out what to put there just yet.

Framed pictures hang from cream-colored walls, the photographs inside ranging from pictures of her and Zed together to pictures of her family and also his.

Addison loved pictures.

She loved the memories they held and growing up she didn't want miss one moment so there were a lot of pictures in the living room and their shared bedroom.

One picture is of her and Zed at the beach, his arms wrapped around her from behind with his face nestled into the side of her neck, both sporting equally loving smiles on their faces. Another is a collage of them at what was their junior prom.

There's two semi-blurry pictures of her zombie looking nothing less than stunning in his pink suit; one was taken as had he danced along with the roar of the crowd and the other as he was coming up from the ground.

Even something as formal as a prom wasn't going to stop him from using one of his signature dance moves—and he had bounced back up from the ground in such a suave manner that all the girls were fawning over him by the end of the song during that picture—Addison remembers all of it far too clearly and still doesn't feel at all guilty about the hungry kiss she had planted on his lips as soon as he was close enough for her to grab at his tie.

There's pictures of her too, one of her playfully posing with the Aceys, her silver dress shinning bright under the neon lights, another of Zed and her slow dancing, their hands intertwined and waists touching. And, of course, also in the collage is the classic professional prom pictures every school provides. The one Addison decided to frame is of the two of them close together, Zed's arms snug around her lower torso as they smile into the camera.

Then come the general family pictures; Zed, Zoey and Zevon out to dinner with the two youngest sharing one side of the booth. Addison, Missy and Dale on vacation in the Bahamas laughing by the shoreline. Zoey, Zed and Addison on the monkey bars at the playground, and it's the cheerleader who's steadier on her feet than both zombies combined.

Living in picture-perfect Seabrook her entire life had left an impression on Addison that she just couldn't shake no matter how hard she tried and that was presentation. Especially when it came to their apartment.

She cleaned almost obsessively, wiping the thinnest layer of dust from shelves and vacuuming up dirt less than twenty seconds after Zed had tracked it in when he came home from work. Sometimes it makes her mad, how much she has to clean to feel okay.

Sometimes she doesn't think it's normal.

But then Zed's there; pulling her into a hug, leaving the softest of kisses on her forehead, telling her how much he loves her and how much he'll always love her.

Sometimes she wonders about her faults—no one's perfect, least of all her—but then Zed's there; hands resting on her hips, his lean body hovering above her and whispering, "You're so beautiful," as he leans in and trails kisses down her skin and she forgets all about those faults she fears so much.

What are faults when someone like Zed loves you?

"And _you_ ," he continues, unabashed as ever, "look _gorgeous_."

Brought back to the present, Addison holds back her own smile, knowing he's just trying to distract her with compliments so that he doesn't have to admit that he is in fact rearranging their entire apartment fifteen minutes before they're supposed to have people over.

So she instead rolls her eyes as another sigh escapes her. "Thanks," she replies, dryly.

Zed hides his laugh in his sleeve and then reaches one hand out to steady the shelf against the wall and blindly fumbles for the drill—which he had set down beside him—with the other. Addison senses the impending doom and rushes over to Zed's side, handing the drill up to him. He shoots her a dazzling grin as he takes it from her.

"Thank you darling," he says easily and then, after seeing the pensive look scrawled across her face, leans down and gives her a sweet, unexpected kiss on the lips. He pulls back before Addison can reach a hand up and around the back of his neck to deepen it and winks at her before readjusting his position on the stepladder.

He looks back to the shelf, lining up the drill with it's next victim.

"You worry too much Addy," he says playfully as he triple-checks everything playing into this horrible idea of his. (The horrible idea was to move the shelf without taking anything off of the top of it. He still wasn't sure what the results would be.)

He's no handyman but he's been staring at this damned crooked shelf for an hour and it was just begging to be fixed. "I have it handled. All I'm doing is moving this one side up, which I can do without having to move any of your cheer stuff to save time, and that's that. Just unscrewing and then screwing back in again. Besides, I think that if I ask Bonzo to help me do one more stupidly simple handyman thing, he'll wring my neck. He looked like he was going to kill me when I asked for help with the bedroom last week."

"Though his expressions may say otherwise, Bonzo really doesn't mind. He knows better than me how clueless you are when it comes to construction of any kind."

Zed shrugs, debating the words as he loosens the screw embedded in the wall. Addison's busy wondering if grabbing the bottle of wine she has stored in the back of the fridge and adding some to her mug will help calm her nerves or make things worse when abruptly Zed mutters, "Oh _shit_ ," and everything collapses around her—or really, when everything collapses around Zed.

His grip on the shelf slips at the same time his grip on the drill does and his poor reflexes don't do him any favors as the shelf, everything on the shelf, the drill and the stepladder along with himself—because he panicked and his balance went too—all tumble to the ground in a pile of something not good.

Collectively, everything smashes at once, slamming into the carpeted floor with too much force followed by his deadweight body, but Zed hears everything separately instead. It hurts ten times more, hearing some of his girlfriend's most treasured items get destroyed one by one. Damn his zombie hearing.

After it's over and everything's quiet again, except for the fan on over the stove in the kitchen, Zed's first thought is Addison as he scrambles—painfully—up from the ground and over to her side. She's mostly clear of the debris, only a nick on the back of her hand that's barely a line of red but Zed worries over it anyway, firing question after question her way. "Are you okay?"

"Yes honey I'm fine,"

"What's your full name?"

"I don't have a concussion, Zed, I have a _cut_. I wasn't even hit in the head—"

"Can you move?"

Addison rubs her hand on the hem of her shirt, removing the blood and finally glancing up at him. "I said I'm," but she stops when she sees the medium-sized gash on his forehead, her mouth suddenly agape. "How can you be worrying over me when you're bleeding that bad?" She asks aghast, afraid to even reach a hand up to inspect the wound.

Zed shakes his head and reaches his own hand up, gingerly touching it and then pulling back, as if to prove that he was fine, and trying to hide his wince all the while.

"Addy," he begins, and he's using that tone he only uses when he tries to pretend that something isn't a big deal and Addison's having none of it as she stands and grabs him by the hand, leading him to the front door. "Addy." He says again as she grabs her cross-body and car keys, aiming them out the window and clicking the unlock button.

He waits patiently by the door, like a child awaiting his mother's orders after getting in trouble for throwing a baseball through the bedroom window. Addison's pulling her cellphone out of her pocket as she ambles back to the kitchen, hitting the speed dial for Bree as she goes.

The three were supposed to carpool and she knew that she'd be the only one responsible enough to answer as they were, predictably, blasting Party in the USA on their way over. She picks up on the third ring with lots of unhappy grumbling coming from the background as she answers with a cheery, "What's up Addy?"

"Hey Bree," Addison says as she turns off the oven, "sorry to interrupt your tunes but I knew you would be the only one who answered."

"You only called her because you know her phone's connected to the car's Bluetooth!"

Eliza chimes in from what Addison can assume is the passenger seat, considering Bonzo's shouted, "Za!" afterwards seems more distant.

"You're fine, Addy! Is something wrong?" Addison checks to make sure nothing else in the kitchen will catch fire as she goes back to where Zed's standing and grabs him gently by the arm before leading him out the front door.

"Um, yes, actually. I have to take Zed to the emergency room. My darling zombie boyfriend decided to fix a shelf—"

"It was crooked!" Zed hisses as they make it to the car, Addison waving him off as she climbs into the driver's seat.

"—that was apparently crooked and giving him the evil eye. I told him to just wait but he refused and now he's got a really bad cut over his eye that I want to get checked out." Bree gasps and even Eliza and Bonzo have gone quiet.

"Oh my—do you want us to meet you at the hospital?" Addison sticks the key into the ignition as Zed puts on his seatbelt.

"No, no that's okay. I was calling to ask if you guys would play host for the parents until we got back?"

"Of course!"

"Great. Dinner is ready if you guys want to get a head start, just make sure to save me some mashed potatoes, and remember the key is under the stones to the right of the door."

"I remember. Call us if you need anything, okay?"

She smiles, "I will. Bonzo! Show 'em how the chorus is done Seabrook style."

"Garzat!" Addison laughs as the call ends.

Zed waits until they're backing out of the driveway before saying what's on his mind. "You could've told them to save me some fried cauliflower," he grouses as Addison puts the car into drive.

"We're not going to run out of fried cauliflower honey," she replies easily, "and even if we did, your dad brought over some of his famous scrambled cauliflower the other morning." Zed's head hits the back of the headrest with a soft thump.

"His tastes like gym sneakers though. Yours is so much better."

Addison tries to pretend that compliment doesn't mean much.

(It does though and she ends up smiling anyway. Zed smiles too.)

* * *

"So what did we learn?" Zed rolls his eyes from the hospital bed, picking at the IV stuck in his arm. Addison reaches over and swats his hand away before he can do any more serious damage. "Zed," she warns evenly, and her boyfriend exhales loudly.

"No more moving anything at home without Bonzo's help."

"And?" She prompts, poking him in the wrist. Zed sighs even louder.

" _And_ to listen to you the next time you say not to do something." Addison beams and leans over, leaving a kiss on his cheek and the plastic hospital chair she's sitting in moans in protest at the action. Zed smiles happily at the quick display of affection. Before he can comment on it however, the doctor assigned to him knocks twice on the ajar door before pushing past it and walking into view.

"Hello again," he greets as he makes his way over to Zed's bedside, "how are you feeling?"

Zed shrugs, gesturing vaguely with one hand towards the four stitches sealing the cut above his eye. "Well, for having to undergo one of the most tortuous things in my life, I guess I could say I'm feeling pretty good." Addison reaches out and grabs his hand, squeezing it in reassurance.

Though getting four stitches might've been minor to anyone else, it was almost traumatizing for Zed—someone who's never had stiches before or _any_ proper medical care for that matter. He's never told Addison the entire story, he's only ever brushed on the topic of why there was no medical care provided for zombies whatsoever, and she can't get anything out of her stubborn dad or belligerent mother so she's mostly in the dark about the whole thing.

But in no way does she want to push her boyfriend to talk about something he's not ready to talk about, so she'll settle on hoping to learn the full truth someday.

The doctor is a blond-haired man in his late forties with a kind face and a healthy knowledge of how to treat a zombie—which was unexpected—and not once has he talked down to them which was also a welcomed surprise.

"That's good to hear," the doctor hums as he scans the clipboard in his hands, "you did great with everything Zed."

Addison squeezes his hand again and her boyfriend can't hold back his smile, "Thanks."

The doctor looks over a few more notes on Zed's clipboard before glancing back up at the couple. "I want you guys to stick around for another half hour just to make sure Zed doesn't react badly to any of the painkillers we've given him and to be sure his zombie genes don't reject the stitches but after that I will gladly let you go home. No one wants to spend their entire night in the emergency room after all." He finishes with a knowing smile as he heads towards the door.

"Thank you," Addison says as he takes his leave, and the door shuts with a soft click behind him.

Addison pulls out her phone and shoots a quick text to Bree with the new update, apologizing again for leaving their friends to play host to the families. Zed watches her from the hospital bed, taking in the worried bend of her eyebrows, the straight line of her lips and the jagged curve of her hunched shoulders.

The black dress-shirt she's wearing makes her frame look tiny—and he knows the shirt was only a little big on her, she had told him herself—but for some reason it looks like it's swallowing her petite body whole. He doesn't know why he's drawn to her shoulders, maybe it's because it's there that he can see just how upset she truly is, but either way she looks exhausted.

He feels horrible for allowing himself to get hurt and ruining their Easter.

Next time there's a crooked shelf, he's leaving it for Bonzo, that's for damn sure.

"I'm sorry about your cheer stuff," he says when her stare begins to burn a hole through her cellphone. His words bring her attention away from her phone and instead over to him. A half-smile crosses over her face.

"I'm just glad you're okay," she answers before going quiet.

Zed feels like there's more she wants to say, but he decides not to push. Addison's phone goes off a few seconds later, signaling a new text from Bree who assures Addison everything's okay. She chuckles when she reads the second part of the message and at Zed's questioning look she fills him in. "Bree said that the parents have already broken into the wine and that they're currently playing a drunken version of charades."

A smile pulls at his lips, "As long as they're happy," he offers, to which Addison nods her agreement.

"Yeah," she whispers, and the two sink into a slightly uncomfortable silence. It's only uncomfortable because he knows she's not saying something and she knows he knows, and that's the only problem with knowing your significant other so well.

Addison lasts another two minutes before she finally can't take the quiet any longer.

"You had to get stitches, Zed."

"I know."

She shakes her head, "You could've cracked your head open. Or done something worse."

"I know Addy. I know."

He reaches his hand out and traces his thumb over her knuckles, touch feather-light. "What if they had refused to treat you?" It's something they push to the back of their minds often, but it's still a very serious possibility. Seabrook was changing, yes. But not all of the town, or every single person, all at once. "Then you would've been walking around with this huge gash on your head and . . . "

She trails off and ducks her head down, glaring at the floor. "What if they refused to treat you and I _lost_ you over something as stupid as moving a damn bookshelf?"

She doesn't look up after she says it and Zed realizes what she's really upset about is that she thinks she could've lost him. She thinks he'd leave her, just like that. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you." Zed slowly turns and lifts his legs over the side of the bed. "I don't want that time cut short."

The rest of his body follows as he crouches down in front of her, tilting her head so that she's facing him with two fingers on her chin. "I don't want to lose you," she murmurs, so, so soft, like it's something forbidden to even say out loud.

"You're never losing me," Zed says, faster than his brain can comprehend, "you are _never_ going to lose me, Addison." He leans in and gives her a deep kiss, almost like he's sealing a promise, and when he pulls back Addison almost pulls him in for another kiss. "Besides," he whispers, his lips forming a playful smile, "I'm not that easy to get rid of. You're stuck with me."

She laughs, and the sound is like music to his ears as her arms come to rest on his shoulders, her fingers brushing the back of his neck and causing a shiver to run down his spine. "I'm okay with that," she says as she moves closer, "and you're," and closer, so close that their lips are almost touching again, "stuck with me."

Zed's lips brush against hers, "I wouldn't want it any other way."

When the doctor returns fifteen minutes later, Zed's barely able to pull his shirt back on and Addison almost doesn't make it back to her chair in time before the door opens. Addison runs both of her hands through her hair as the doctor greets the both of them with a friendly smile and her reddened cheeks are a dead giveaway but the doctor decides not to comment.

They weren't an ordinary couple, so they probably rarely got a moment to themselves and public displays of affection were undoubtedly out of the question—so why bother? He didn't think of himself as a cruel man and these two had been through enough already.

And as he tells them that they're okay to head home, the grins on both of their faces is worth it.

* * *

Everyone cheers when Zed and Addison come through the front door and from the hugs Missy and Dale smush them in, they're obviously the drunkest of the bunch. Addison's happy about that though, because if they're out of it then they won't make any snide remarks and Zed realizes it at the same time she does, playfully pinching her side as they make their way towards the kitchen to get some food.

There's mashed potatoes _and_ fried cauliflower saved in separate bowls for them and as Addison gets her and Zed plates from the cabinet he comes up behind her and wraps his arms around her waist as their family and friends erupt into laughter from the living room.

"No scrambled cauliflower for you," she says as he nuzzles his face into her neck and he chuckles, his chest rumbling with the action.

"Thank God," he mumbles, leaving a kiss against her skin. "Thanks for taking care of me, cheerleader." Addison grabs some silverware from a drawer and rests the forks and knifes on their corresponding plates before turning around in his arms.

There's a goofy smile over his features and a content one over hers. "Anytime, zombie. Just stay away from the bookshelves, all right?"

"No promises," he jokes and before she can voice her disapproval he's kissing her and she doesn't ever want it to end.


	13. Untitled 2

~Author's Note~

I'm up to my eyeballs in prompts, I think I've been hoarding them lol, so I think I'm going to try and get a few out of the way with the next few upcoming chapters (who else can't wait for the continuation of the Celebrity AU for Chapter 15?) I think Addison's a little OOC in this but just bear with me, I promise it all works out in the end.

Also season two of 13 Reasons Why is on my brain (I'm on episode five) so I think that's how I got on that whole tangent towards the middle and you know what looking back at this one-shot I don't know what this is and how this got so far away from me and I feel like this isn't my best work and this was supposed to be a 500 word drabble about them meeting at a party but it's definitely not just that anymore. Will I ever learn to keep the word counts where I want them to be? Probably not.

I'm still so, _so_ behind with PMs and responding to reviews so please do not think I'm ignoring anybody I'm just totally swamped at the moment but I appreciate every single one of you and thank you for the warm welcome back! :D

 **YellowRainbow25**  
Thank you and thanks for the prompt!

 **Batrice gomba**  
I will write everything _but_ lemons in this story. Sorry about that. I do however know there are other stories in the fandom with that if that's what you're looking for, just check under the 'M' Rating.

 **Ophelia**  
The more prompts the better! :) Loved all of them and they have all been added to the list!

Special thanks to **JustThatGirl** for both of these prompts!  
(also saw your new prompts and I can't wait to get to them!)

* * *

 **Prompt(s):**  
 _Zed and Addison meet at a party + Movies_  
 **Notes:**  
 _Zed's a Human AU_

 **Genre:** Romance  
 **Rating:** Low T

* * *

 **13**  
Red Cup / Web of Love

* * *

He's handsome; Addison can admit that much.

Perfectly messy black hair, beautiful brown eyes and that smile on his face is probably one of the most amazing things she's ever seen in her life. He's tall, extremely tall, and a little more on the skinny side but she feels like there's more than meets the eye with him.

She feels like that black tee-shirt he's wearing is hiding how not-skinny he is, if the nearly unnoticeable muscle in his arms is anything to go by. There's a silver necklace around his neck, what's on it buried underneath his shirt collar, and a similar-looking silver ring on his right pointer finger. Ripped jeans and black converse finish off his look and if she didn't already know that he was on the football team—as the lead quarterback—her mind would've went straight to an outcast or emo.

He's been standing in the kitchen as long as she has, his back pressed against one of the counters, his arms crossed lazily over his chest and he had kept a nonchalant expression on his face the entire time . . . until she had finally directed her attention over to him after filling her plastic red cup with some of the fruit punch from the large, overflowing bowl in front of her. That's when his expression had shifted into something else—a smile. A genuine smile.

Addison's never interacted with Zed Necrodopoulus in her three years of high school and she wouldn't have started now except that he's been staring at her for nearly two minutes now and hasn't said a word otherwise.

And hell if some guy was just going to stand and stare at her like she was some piece of meat on the market and not a human being.

"What do you want?"

It comes out a little more blunt than she means it to, but the words do their job and get her point across. Zed looks startled for a second but then he regains his composure and his smile grows wider.

"You know, there's an eighty-eight percent chance that there's alcohol in that red cup you got there." And out of all the things in the word that he could've said, Addison did not think that would be his response.

No explanation for why he's staring? No _sorry I'll leave you alone now_? Addison glances at the cup clutched in her hands. Of course it was probably spiked. A full vat of fruit punch out like this with no one supervising it?

Addison wasn't one to go to parties and she wasn't one to drink either.

The only reason she's here is because Stacey, Lacey and Tracey ganged up on her yesterday afternoon and practically begged her to come. Their reason why was because they've all been on the cheer squad together since freshman year and if she didn't go to at least one party with them before the end of the year, then how were they even friends?

Addison had rolled her eyes at the time and told the three a firm no, but then that no had turned into an _I'll think about it_ by the next morning, and now it was midnight and she was about to drink spiked punch in Bucky's in-law's kitchen. What a crazy life she's living.

Zed's still staring at her—waiting for an answer, she supposes—and she looks from him to her drink before lifting the cup to her lips and taking a long swig. When she's done she puts the cup down on the kitchen island beside her with a noticeable _thump_ and Zed's eyebrows raise.

"And there's a ninety-nine percent chance that I'm feeling adventurous tonight. Thanks for the warning anyway."

She goes to turn away, either to meet up with the Aceys back in the living room with the ongoing game of beer pong or to chill with Bree and Bonzo out on the back deck and pretend she isn't the third wheel, when Zed suddenly lurches forwards and his hand closes around her wrist. She turns around and once she's looking at him again he lets go and wrings his hands together.

"I—I didn't mean to stare. I just came in here to hook my buddy up with a drink and I found a beautiful goddess instead."

Addison really can't help herself.

She bursts out laughing, nearly doubling over, and she's so busy laughing that she misses the way Zed's face falls. He's good at hiding expressions though—too good—so by the time she looks up again the corner of his lips are pulled upwards in a smile still, a half of one, but a smile anyway. "What's so funny?" He asks, tone only slightly joking, face thoughtful.

This time it's Addison's turn to raise an eyebrow. "You just referred to me as a goddess," she points out, deadpan.

"Yeah." He says, sincere. "I did."

Addison's entire face scrunches up in what he thinks is confusion and Zed has to hold back a chuckle at how cute she looks. She really is beautiful; with blonde hair that falls far past her shoulders and curls at the end, dark blue eyes that captivate, a smile that makes his world stop, she's the prettiest girl he's ever seen. She's definitely short, not that he'd say that out loud or dare make fun of her for it, and her tanned skin is flawless enough that he's actually kind of jealous.

She's wearing a pastel pink lettermen jacket with a big S on the front, a white tank top underneath, black leggings and shoes similar to his. It's not usual attire for a party and Zed thinks that's another reason why he likes her. She's not afraid to be different, even if it's just with her clothes. He'll never admit it, but he's been smitten with her since the first time she cheered on the sidelines for their team freshmen year.

(It's only taken him nearly three years to get the guts to actually talk to her.)

"Wait you—you meant it? You weren't kidding or making fun of me or—"

"Making fun of you?" He interrupts, bewildered, "no. No, never. I'm—I'm sorry if I gave you that impression I just uh—you're just so goddamn gorgeous that I . . . I don't know what to say. I-I'm speechless, that's how pretty you are. Your boyfriend must—"

"I don't . . . I don't have a boyfriend."

"Oh." Is all he responds with and he nearly hits himself upside the head because _yeah Zed if you didn't sound like a bumbling idiot before you sure do now_ , and he quickly grapples for something else to say as Addison shifts from foot to foot in front of him. "I'm sorry," he says after a short stretch of silence, causing her to look up from her feet, "I'm not trying to come onto you or anything like that. I've just, it's taken me forever to work up the nerve to talk to you and I'm already screwing things up and I'm sorry I'll just go—"

And though Addison might've wanted him to say those exact words before, she certainly doesn't want him to say them now. "No, wait," she stops him with a hand on his shoulder before he can turn away and she doesn't let go when he turns back around. "You aren't screwing things up. I'm sorry I laughed. That was mean of me. Just—no one ever means the things they say. They either say it as a joke or to get into your pants."

Zed's shoulder feels like it's burning under her touch but it's . . . a good type of burn, if that makes sense. He prays his cheeks aren't red. "How many—how many guys have done that to you?" Addison shrugs like it's nothing. Like it's nothing because she's a girl, he assumes, though he wishes he didn't have to.

"A lot," she answers simply before shaking her head. "Comes hand in hand with being a cheerleader, I guess."

"That's not right," he says before he can stop himself, "that's really not right."

"You're telling me," she laments. Then, "What about you, Mr. All-Star Quarterback?" Addison takes a few steps forwards so that she's closer—close enough that he can smell her perfume.

"I'm not like them." He says, not missing a beat. He wants to say more, but he's not quite sure what more would consist of. When Addison doesn't say anything more, he gets a sudden surge of confidence. "Hey, Addison," her eyes find his and he can see that she wants to ask how he knows her name but in the end she doesn't because she is the head cheerleader after all—and if this was some cliché they'd be together already—"what's your opinion on the Avengers?"

* * *

"Oh my _God_ ," Addison says as they walk out of the theater and their hands brush together at their sides (and not that Zed's keeping count or anything but that was the fifth time that night and he happier than he should've been about it). Zed tosses their empty bag of popcorn in the trash along with both of their empty Slurpee cups and Addison can't seem to get a grip on her words as they head towards the lobby.

"Oh my God," she repeats, "that movie was _amazing_. It was action-packed, the ending was so great, but not great at the same time because _you know_ , and I think Tom Holland has my heart."

Zed chuckles as they shuffle past the movie theater's night crew whose cleaning up spilled popcorn kernels and crumpled napkins in the main lobby and Zed reaches the door first because of his long legs, holding it open for her as she smiles and walks through. "Thank you," she says and Zed can't find any words for a minute because her smile is just so—

"All-Star, you coming?"

Zed realizes with an embarrassed blush in his cheeks that Addison was already halfway down the sidewalk and he was still holding the door, apparently for invisible people. He jogs over to meet up with her and she giggles, holding out a hand in his direction. Zed glances from her face to her hand and then grins and takes it, intertwining their fingers.

"So," he voices as they begin the short walk back to Bucky's street, which was also the same street that both of their houses resided on, "Spidey's got your heart?"

"Spidey does indeed have my heart right now," she echoes, "I think he's the best Spider-Man to date and he's _so_ —"

"Hot?" Zed guesses with a knowing look in her direction.

Addison can't help but smile and laugh. "Hot." She agrees.

They walk in silence for a little bit. Zed's trying not to stare and instead focus on the road ahead of them for any stray cars but his gaze keeps drifting back to her like she's some (beautiful) magnet and he's just stuck in her magnetic field. Addison notices how he keeps looking back at her after a while and if he wasn't so bad at hiding it she wouldn't say anything at all. But he's horrible at hiding it and talking with him is something . . . extraordinary.

She pulls them to a stop underneath a flickering streetlight a few blocks from Bucky's house, and if they listen close enough they can hear the bass of the music from where they're standing, turning him so that they're facing each other under the lambent yellow.

"Why do you keep looking at me like that?" She asks, her voice low. "Do I have a kernel in my teeth or something—?"

"Can I kiss you?"

It's a blur; they come out so fast that they all kind of mush together like one big word instead of four little ones. He doesn't even realize the words have slipped out until a few seconds later and he almost gasps because _holy crap_ he just said that out loud and sounded like a _complete_ idiot.

He didn't mean to say that . . . or he did, but he wasn't supposed to say that out loud because all he was doing was thinking it but now it was out there and Addison was looking at him with an expression he couldn't read even if his life depended on it—which it kind of did because he felt like he was going to die of humiliation any second now—but his train of thought skids to a stop when Addison closes the short distance between them to press her lips against his.

It's like his brain malfunctions. He thinks this is the best kiss he's ever had.

(Granted, he's only had three in his entire lifetime—the first one was a kiss on his cheek from Mitzi in the fourth grade, another was with Mackenzie in the eighth grade so that they could both say that they'd kissed someone before high school, and the final one was a, playful, deep kiss on the lips from Paizley after a group of them got together to pass some time by playing spin the bottle and her spin landed on him.)

Addison's lips are nothing like any of their lips. They aren't cold for one thing—which had always confused him about each of his girl friends that he had kissed, what were they, zombies?—instead they were warm and actually passionate and all he could smell was her fruity perfume, which was the best smell on the planet.

He's kissing back but his arms are lingering awkwardly by his sides so he fixes that by looping them around her lower waist, careful not to pass into uncharted territory, and at the same time Addison deepens the kiss like it's nobody's business.

One of her hands finds its way to his hair so she can tug him even closer and her other hand finds the curve of his jaw and Zed has to bite back a groan when he finally pulls back, less than an inch of space between them.

He wants to say something, anything, but she beats him to it.

" _That_ was better than the Spider-Man kiss," she says in reference to the original Spider-Man films, and it makes Zed laugh because she's a Marvel nerd and that just makes her that much more amazing and holy _crap_ he just kissed this gorgeous, cheerleading, Marvel nerd and she kissed _back_.

Life couldn't get any better.

Her hands slide down to rest on his chest and his heart is racing as she smiles and then kisses him again. When she needs some air she pulls back but he's not done kissing her, not yet, she's intoxicating, "We're not being a cliché are we?" she asks breathlessly as his lips find her neck and a laugh almost bubbles out of him.

He pulls back long enough to murmur an, "Nope," against her before trailing kisses down her skin.

To the three cars that pass them by, they're just two teenagers making out underneath a broken streetlight. But to Zed and Addison, they're Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson.

* * *

~Author's Note~

Full credit for the names (originally zombie but human in this AU) goes to **unusual-ly** over on tumblr. :)


	14. We're Here Tonight, and That's Enough

~Author's Note~

Hey guys. Sorry I've been completely AWOL . . . sometimes I just distance myself from writing and I don't even realize it, you know? But, I haven't forgotten about the fandom, or about the amazing couple that is zeddison or about this series. In fact, next up is another part to our little Celebrity AU Series . . .

Anyway, I just want to say a huge thank you for all the support this story is still getting, seeing the new reviews, favorites and follows motivates me to continue like nothing else—even when I'm on a writing break. Thank you all _so_ much, and I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, which was inspired by those new sneak peek photos from American Housewife!

* * *

 **Prompt:**  
 _American Housewife Behind-the-Scenes Pics_  
 **Notes:**  
 _Forgot to say how old they were in this one so we'll say Addison and Zed are around 25/26 I guess?_

 **Genre:** Romance, Family  
 **Rating:** Super Low T for some bad words, romance bits and suggestions to _other_ romance bits.

.

.

* * *

 **14**  
we're here tonight, and that's enough

* * *

.

.

"Remind me again why we're here?" Zed asks as he slips his arms around Addison's waist, hugging her from behind as they slowly approach her grandmother's house, the gravel and light dusting of snow crunching under their feet.

Addison tries to hold back a smile, "Because we've spent the last four Christmases with Zoey and your father and I promised my mom we'd show up this year. There's only so many years we can avoid my family, hon."

Zed grumbles something under his breath as his cold nose presses into the side of her neck, "Zombie Christmases are so much better than Human Christmases," he mumbles and Addison doesn't disagree. Any Christmas Eve spent with Zed and his family was a blast; the day full of hilarious games, carefully crafted gifts, massive amounts of food and plenty of happiness and love to go around.

Addison would head over to her parent's house later in the night to wish them a happy holiday and stay for some hot chocolate and re-runs of old Christmas movies, and then when she would head home in the early hours of Christmas morning Zed would be waiting for her with open arms and a gift that was never wrapped that well.

Zed never joined her on her trips over to visit her parents, but she understood why. Things weren't horrible between them or anything—those issues had been smoothed out as the years had gone on—and though he was just as welcome as her, there was still a tension there that wouldn't go away no matter how hard both sides tried. Addison knew her parents were trying, and she knew Zed was too, but things would always end with forged smiles and half-hearted goodbyes and not to mention the whole ordeal was always just flat-out awkward. But the two had been dodging her family's Christmas Eve parties for a steady four years, and everyone had to show their face at some time. That sometime just happened to fall on this Christmas, much to Zed's displeasure.

Addison's brought back to the present by the feel of Zed's lips pressing against her neck and when he pulls back she abruptly turns her head and meets his lips with her own. She doesn't know when they stopped walking, but she's more than glad that they did.

A groan of surprise leaves him but within seconds he's catching on and kissing back, one of his hands sliding up her back and stopping just below the puff of her coat's hood. One of her hands finds his face, her fingers cool to the touch as they graze his cheek, and when she pulls away Zed wants nothing more than to be able to kiss her again. Her cheeks are tinted pink from the cold, but Zed swears they're a shade darker after. Her fingers trail down to his jaw and the movement sends shivers down his spine.

Of course they were two hours from home. _Of course_.

He's slightly breathless when he says, "See now why can't we spend the rest of Christmas Eve doing more of _that_ instead of attending your family's fancy ball?" Addison rolls her eyes, fixing the lapels on his new winter jacket.

"It's not a fancy ball, it's just a kind of formal party, and really it's not even that; most of the time everyone ends up wearing ugly reindeer sweaters."

Zed doesn't look convinced. "You still didn't give me a good enough reason as to why we're here and not back at home under the covers—"

"My grandmother and uncle always provide the food and they always get it from that five-star restaurant you hear on the news all the time."

His mouth nearly falls open, "You mean the place where it costs two-hundred dollars to just sit down and then another few hundred to even eat?" Addison nods, and nothing in her expression suggests she's joking. "Holy shit," he breathes, to which she chides his language with a nudge to his chest, and then he's grinning. "Is your whole family rich?"

Addison sighs in exasperation, "Zed we've gone over this," she warns as she turns around and begins to make her way to the large oak door awaiting them, the golden handles glimmering in the evening snowfall.

Zed hurries to catch up with her, "No, I know, I know but I didn't think it was _everyone_ in your family—"

Before he can say much else, the door opens wide, revealing a middle-aged woman with blonde hair and a chipper smile that, for some reason, reminds Zed of Bucky. "Addison dear, you made it!" She squeals before pulling her inside. Zed follows behind, catching the door before it slams and shutting it softly instead as the woman fawns over Addison with hugs and kisses.

Zed's in awe as he takes in everything around him, from the twinkling chandelier in the middle of the ceiling to the grand staircase off to the right, and the dark green garland hanging all along the walls with colorful lights blinking in a pattern. There's a literal buffet towards the back of the parlor (living room? Entrance? Zed doesn't even know what to call it) and there's people everywhere, most chatting away in small groups and some already obviously drunk and on their third full glass of wine as they laugh obnoxiously.

Who knew Addison's grandmother owned a beautiful mansion . . . okay well he might've already known but hearing about the place versus seeing it in person were two very different things.

"Aunt Sue, this is my husband, Zed."

Addison's hand is holding tightly to his bicep, either out of fear that her aunt will say some slur or worry that he'll leave her hanging he doesn't quite know, and then he's face to face with her Aunt Sue who is _not_ giving him the friendliest smile on the planet. It takes her a few seconds but she does eventually hold out her hand, which Zed takes gently and shakes politely.

"It's nice to meet you Miss," he says, trying his best to turn on his usual charm, and to his relief not completely failing as Addison's aunt evens out her smile.

"Zed," she says thoughtfully, pulling her hand back. Turning her attention to Addison, "This wouldn't be the same Zed that tried to—"

"Cuz!"

Bucky comes bounding over, an award-winning smile stretched across his face. He's successful in diverting Aunt Sue's train of thought as he gives Addison a hug and then slings an arm around Zed's shoulders. "Are you two always late to the party?" He jokes, causing Addison to chuckle weakly.

Zed pipes in with a, "I think the right term is fashionably late," and after a few more seconds of awkward silence Aunt Sue finally gets the hint.

"Well," she says as she claps her hands together, "I hope the both of you enjoy the party. Addison dear, it was nice to see you again." She hugs Addison a last time, not even bothering to acknowledge Zed before making her way over to another group of family members clustered together by the stairs. As soon as she's out of earshot Bucky yanks his arm from around Zed and looks at his cousin like she has seven heads.

"Are you crazy?" He whisper-shouts, eyebrows scrunched together, "What in God's name would possess you to bring Zed to the party?"

"My parents' prodding, that's what," she hisses back, "I can't believe you told your _mom_ that Zed almost ate your brains freshmen year—exactly how childish were you back then Bucky?"

Ah, that was Bucky's mother, Zed thinks to himself. The hostile greeting makes a lot more sense now. Bucky exhales, "Of course that's all you would get from that encounter, not that I just saved your asses before you've even been here for five minutes or anything like that, oh no it's focus on my stupid decisions when I was a cocky senior."

"Well maybe you shouldn't had been a cocky senior in the first place!"

Bucky and Addison had a good relationship these days, and he tolerated Zed and treated him with respect, which is all Zed could really ask for. Zed's starting to wonder if the only person in Addison's family who actually likes him is Bucky.

"So am I going to get ambushed like that by your whole family?"

He interrupts the two's whisper argument with a valid question and as Addison responds with an, "No of course not," Bucky says the complete opposite.

Addison shoots him a glare.

"What? Sorry if I'm actually trying to get your husband—who you promised to love in sickness and in health might I add—out of here alive."

"I'm not the one filling his head with nonsense!" She turns to Zed and places a comforting hand on his shoulder, "You are going to be fine, actually no scratch that, _we're_ going to be fine. I know which family members to avoid so that there's no more confrontations like that, we'll stay for an hour and a half tops, and then we are going to go home and have a proper Christmas Eve with hot chocolate and ice-cream and Home Alone and lots of kissing okay?"

Bucky makes a face, "Ew. But okay. If you say so."

Zed finds himself staring into his wife's eyes and trusting her words more than anything else in the world in that moment. So after leaning in to give her a quick kiss (which Bucky groans at) he gives his answer.

"Okay. Let's do this."

* * *

"Well that was close—"

"No," Bucky snaps, taking a large sip of wine from his cup, looking more stressed now than when they started, "the third time was close the seventh time is just bullsh—"

"Okay, Bucky we get it." Addison interjects, before turning and burying her face into Zed's chest.

The two are huddled in a corner close to the buffet tables but far enough that no one's going to want to go out of their way to bother them. Family members just seemed to be scouting the two out from the crowd and Bucky was now on his seventh save of keeping aunts and uncles from saying something horrible to the odd zombie out. The night was going far from well and the two had yet to run into Addison's parents so that she could tell them exactly how the night was going and why it was such a bad idea to begin with.

Zed lowers his head so that his chin is resting on top of his wife's hair.

"Hey," he murmurs, voice soft, gentle, "hey, what's wrong?" Addison grasps at the material of his jacket with one hand, holding tight. Her other hand rests over his stomach, and that anchors him—she anchors him and keeps him warm and calm, as stupid as that may sound to anyone else.

"I'm sorry I made you come to this," she mumbles, her voice barely audible. "This is horrible, and nothing like the amazing nights we spend with your dad and Zoey." A beat passes as he slowly wraps his arms around her lower waist, "I miss them."

Zed can't hold back his chuckle.

"You just saw them this morning, Ads," he whispers, his tone alight with humor, "and you're going to see them tomorrow and the day after that, and the day after that." Addison pulls back and Zed lifts his head so that he can look down and meet her eyes. "I mean yeah it'd be nice to be with them now, but we see them all the time, and I'm so damn thankful for that. But, I'm okay spending Christmas anywhere, as long as it's with you."

His words flip her heart upside down—in a good way—and without saying anything she leans up on her tiptoes so she can give him a long kiss, full of love and longing. All Zed can really focus on is the fact that her lips taste like peppermint and she smells like cinnamon and eggnog and again he wishes he was home. But right now, home was wherever she was and that was enough for him.

He pulls back first this time, their lips detaching but their foreheads staying pressed together.

"Plus," he mumbles as he steals another kiss, "we got to see firsthand why we're never coming here again so that's," one last kiss to the corner of her lips, "a win-win for me," he finishes, his mouth lifting into a half of a smile. Addison laughs quietly, agreeing mutely before allowing her head to fall in the crook between his head and shoulder.

He holds her close, breathing her in, listening to her heartbeat, savoring every second, until something has to interrupt their solace.

"Zed! Oh there you two are we've been looking all over for you!" It's Addison's mother who calls out, and Zed doesn't miss the few random heads that turn their way but Missy ignores the looks as she makes her way over.

Dale is nowhere to be found and Zed wonders if that's on purpose or by accident.

Addison reluctantly pulls back from her husband, but squeezes his hand once and mutters an, "I'll be back," into his ear before heading her mother's direction. She ushers her mother towards one of the unoccupied back rooms and shuts the door behind them, leaving Zed alone. Bucky had disappeared some time ago, probably when Zed and Addison were "cuddling in public" as her cousin had ever-so-lovingly put it, and Zed couldn't spot his dark mop of hair anywhere in the crowds which was just perfect. So perfect.

"Who are you?"

Zed nearly jumps out of his skin when someone asks him a question while he was deep in thought and he barely has time to open his mouth and form an answer before the person's speaking again. "My family doesn't have any monsters in it," Zed blinks dumbly, caught off-guard by the slur and finally he focuses enough to see the older woman in the wheelchair before him.

Her skin is bronzed but wrinkled, and there are frown lines around her chapped lips and scrunched lines creasing into her forehead. Her eyes are a stunning blue—the shade nearly identical to Addison's—and her hair isn't white like one would assume but instead mostly light blonde with some streaks of white here and there. Her hair seems to refuse to age like the rest of her and her hands are crossed over in her lap, almost like she didn't just wheel herself over to Zed without any assistance. There's a thin golden chain around her neck with a locket hooked around the middle, and he's pretty sure she has two think wool sweaters on along with a pair of comfy looking pajama pants.

Regaining his composure, Zed holds out his hand with only a slight stutter to his words. "Sorry Ma'am I'm Zed, Zed Necrodopolous? Uh, Addy's—sorry, Addison's husband."

She tilts her head, offering no other explanation than, "I'm her grandmother."

Inwardly Zed starts freaking out, because this is the same grandmother whose own husband had his ear bitten off by a zombie which made her (obviously) very hateful of zombies, but on the outside he stays cool . . . to the best of his ability at least.

"Uh yes, um, uh it's nice to meet you, Ma'am." Zed fidgets under the older woman's gaze; he feels like she's staring right through his very being.

"So," Addison's grandmother finally says, "the rumors are true then? My baby girl really did marry a monster?" This is not going to end well, Zed thinks, as he rocks on his heels and begins to mess around with the silver band on his finger (a nervous habit of his for a while now).

"I would never hurt your granddaughter, _ever_ , in this lifetime or the next, Ma'am. She means the world to me. I love her more than anything else."

The woman looks taken aback but she hides her shock quickly and then she's staring at the wedding band he's currently fiddling with. She seems mesmerized, like she's reminded of someone else, and then her eyes are meeting his. "You love her?"

"With all my heart." He responds as her eyes flick back to his ring.

After a few moments of silence, she speaks again, one hand reaching up and grasping at her locket. "My husband used to do that with his ring when he was nervous." A small smile crosses her features, "One time he accidentally flung it across the room. That happened when he met my parents for the first time. He didn't meet them until after we were married for about six months."

Zed doesn't know how to answer.

Addison's grandmother chuckles when he doesn't. "My granddaughter married a zombie." Glancing up at Zed, a twinkle in her eye, "She went against her parents and everything?"

Zed's mouth is dry. "Y-Yes Ma'am. She actually caused a sort of mini-revolution freshman year of high school. She was the reason zombies were kept in school."

"My little firecracker," she murmurs, more to herself than Zed.

A spurt of confidence hits him and he finds his mouth running without his brain's approval. "I wouldn't be here today without her. She saved me. I was messing with my Z-Band to try and fit in and to keep zombies from having to be separated again and it was her who stopped me. If it wasn't for her . . . I don't know where I'd be right now. She's amazing, in every single way."

The little old lady in the wheelchair looks at Zed's green hair, then at his grey skin, and at the spot where his Z-Band is hidden under the cuff of his dress shirt. Finally she looks at his ring, and her lips curve upwards. "My girl knows how to pick the best of the best, even if it ends up being a mon—"

She stops herself, lips tight, before exhaling and apologizing quietly.

"What I meant to say was even if it ends up being someone you least expect." She reaches out a hand and Zed crouches down so he can match her height, allowing her hand to hold both of his, "Take care of my granddaughter, Zed," she says, running a shaking thumb over the back of his knuckle.

Zed nods, "Of course, always. Always," he promises, meaning every word.

Addison's grandmother seems to know he means it and then leans in close, as if she's about to tell him a secret. "Tell my grand-baby, anything he wants, Great Grandma can get." Zed's eyes widen and he pulls back stunned and full of uneasiness. Someone spilled? Addison's mother maybe? God knows she couldn't keep a secret, but she swore, and so did Bucky so how could—

"Oh quit with that worried face, now. No one told me, Zed. You tend to learn things as you get older, and I would know the glow of new parents anywhere." Zed open and closes his mouth like a fish out of water. Addison's grandmother squeezes his hands, "Don't you worry now. I won't tell a soul." He's finally able to get the words out, and they shake a little but the older woman pretends not to notice.

"Thank you, Ma'am."

"Stop with that, Zed, you're making me sound older than I am." A laugh slips out of him and she chuckles too. "I'm Grandma Elise to you and all my other family."

And for the first time that day, Zed's glad he came to the family's fancy ball.

* * *

That Christmas morning, after Addison heads back home from her tradition of spending the night with her parents, as the clock in her car reads nearly two, she pulls into her driveway. She makes her way to the door, careful of the icy spots from the sudden storm the town had earlier in the night, and Zed's already holding the door open for her, her little baby boy wrapped in two blankets from where he's enveloped in her husband's arms.

She grins as soon as she sees her two boys, waiting up for her like they do every Christmas, her baby's eyes open and wide with wonder, Zed's shining with love, and she knows that this is what a Christmas miracle is like.


	15. I'll Kiss You (Celebrities AU)

~Author's Note~

Hey guys. I never thought this would go so long without an update but here we are. I've been writing zeddison of course for other things but it's been scattered, and then I jump fandoms a lot so I _had_ to write some ideas that I needed to read but anyway, here is the long awaited part three of the celebrity au!

I'm super excited for the new movie and I'm hoping to get some stuff finished before it comes out! And thank you guys, seriously, from the bottom of my heart for all the reviews, favorites and follows on this even while I'm gone. They make my days and nights, honestly. So if anyone's still with me, I really hope you enjoy this, and let me know what you think down below!

* * *

 **Prompt:**  
 _None_  
 **Notes:**  
 _Celebrity AU—Part Three_  
 _Brackets are supposed to be 'at' things._

 **Genre:** Romance and Friendship  
 **Rating:** PG

.

.

* * *

 **15**  
i'll kiss you (but only if you want me to)

* * *

.

.

.

Hugging him is everything she wished it to be and more.

He's warm and safe and she tucks right against him like she should. He laughs again a few moments later, still seemingly in shock about the fact that he's actually hugging her, which she feels the same about. Neither wants to pull back first, but there's an annoying voice in the back of Addison's mind reminding her that she has an audition to get to, so with a reluctant sigh she slowly pulls back, her arms slipping from around his neck. He pulls back too, but his arms stay hooked around her waist, his fingers brushing against the hem of the back of her sweatshirt.

She gets lost in his eyes for a moment too long when she glances back up at him, and it's only when she feels warmth spread through her cheeks that she realizes she had been staring.

"Oh um, sorry, I'm sorry," she stammers, suddenly feeling awkward and out of place.

Why did she have to ruin something so great already, by staring of all things?

The smile doesn't fall from his lips however, and she struggles to get the words out past the embarrassment. "My audition, I have to get going." She finally says, and for the first time since meeting her in person, Zed's smile thins. His hands fall from her waist and he takes a step back. Suddenly he's the awkward one, and she's the one that's about to get away.

She already has her phone in hand and is checking the time, readjusting the bag on her shoulder and taking a sip of her hot chocolate in the other, and the words fly out in a burst of panic. "I could come with you!"

She looks up, startled, another blush already lighting up her gorgeous face. "Um, to the audition. I could come with you to your audition, if that's okay."

She smiles and holds out her hand.

She doesn't even have to think about it.

"Yeah," she whispers as her hand closes around his, "that would be okay."

* * *

 _zaddison_updates posted a photo._  
[Wide-Shot of Zed as he holds the door for Addison, both have huge smiles on their faces as their hips brush together.]  
zaddison_updates: has our ship finally sailed? [zed-the-zombie] and [addison-smith] were seen outside a known audition building getting cozy earlier this morning. #celebupdates #zaddisonlives

 _ll bucky ll, bon-zo and 4,998 others liked your post._

* * *

"You grew up in Seabrook too?"

"Maybe if you had the green hair sooner I would've remembered you."

"Funny,"

The smile on his face is contagious and she finds herself smiling as he lifts his own hot chocolate to his lips and takes a sip. He looks comical with the Starbucks cup and green hair and it makes her laugh. His eyebrows knit together, and she quickly snaps a picture of the moment so that she can poke fun at him later.

"Hey," he says as he playfully tries to swipe her phone, "no pictures, please!" She chuckles, shaking her head and pulling another piece of dough off of the cherry danish they're both sharing. She pops it in her mouth and chews thoughtfully for a moment.

"I can't believe after months of you taunting me endlessly about my Starbucks addition, it turns out that you have one too!"

After the audition (which had gone dreadfully horrible in Addison's opinion and amazingly awesome in Zed's) they had decided to stop for a bite and get to know each other—in person. Addison had nowhere to be for the rest of the day, and Zed had a few hours to kill.

On their way over to Starbucks however, Zed had let it slip that he stopped there at least once a day and he never skipped. Every Friday he left with a different dessert and, if he was lucky, sometimes autograph free.

"There are a lot of girls who think I totally kill the zombie look in my movies, and it just so happens that they all hang out at Starbucks," he had said, and Addison had bumped him in the shoulder as they had turned the corner.

"At least you have fans."

"Hey, easy gorgeous, my ego can only take so much criticism!" She had blushed at the nickname and he had smiled and hoped that the blush overtaking his cheeks wasn't as noticeable.

"Now wait a minute, I don't have an addiction," he defends as he places his cup back on the table, swatting her hand away so he can grab some of the fluffy pastry. She rolls her eyes at his childish actions, but finds it more endearing than annoying.

"You do. Once every day? A treat to take home every Friday?"

Zed avoids her eyes, "But all the days leading up to Friday are so stressful," he mumbles, reaching for the last piece of danish. Addison pulls the small plate back before he can snatch it and pops the rest of it in her mouth. He watches her in shock, his mouth agape, betrayal scribbled across his handsome face.

She smiles sweetly back at him.

"Talking for nine months just to be robbed of my sweets," he finally says, but the corner of his mouth is lifting into another smile.

"First step of getting to know me in person," she says as she stands from her chair and collects all the trash from the table, "I like my desserts."

She heads over to the closest trashcan and deposits the trash before returning to their table, and this time she looks serious as she leans forward. Their hands are mere inches from touching each other, and Zed swallows at the thought, instead directing his attention to her eyes, which have taken a sudden interest in his own.

He shifts in his seat before it can turn awkward but his knee accidentally bumps the table, causing it to jolt towards her. He catches it by the sides before it can tumble over top of her, cursing himself as he places it back on the ground.

She's smiling when he chuckles, the tips of his ears turning red.

"Sorry," he mumbles, nodding his head towards his legs, "I only got the part of playing a zombie because I'm lanky _and_ accident prone." A laugh bubbles out of her as she raises her cup to her lips, and he's still rubbing at the back of his neck when she places it back on the table.

"Lanky, accident prone guys aren't all that bad," she says, shrugging; he pretends not to notice the way she fiddles with her hands, or the blush creeping back across her cheeks.

"I don't know, we're quite terrible at surprises too. And trying to sneak up behind somebody? That's a definite bruised knee or broken hand." She laughs again and Zed swears his heart starts to beat faster, stuttering, skipping a beat. He swears she's the brightest light he's ever seen, all bubbly smiles and kind eyes and dimpled cheeks. He swears he could never get enough of her.

When her laughter subsides she gives him a look, and deep inside, he thinks it's a look he could learn the definition to, someday.

Then she says, "I like lanky, accident prone guys," simply, like it's just another point in their conversation, like her words didn't just tilt his whole world on an axis, and he's barely able to contain his emotions as he searches for words to say that aren't _I love you_.

Her smile is blinding, and his heart is pounding and he thinks this just might be the end of him until he's saved by a fangirl.

Literally.

A shaky finger gently pokes at his shoulder and he turns to the side, pulling his sight away from Addison and instead to the tween girl who looks like she's trembling in place. He smiles warmly, welcoming, and it puts her at ease as she clutches her phone tight in her clasped hands.

"E-Excuse me, could I get a picture?"

He spares a glance at Addison, who nods towards the younger girl with an urging smile. "Of course," he says as the girl starts gushing out her thanks, and she moves in beside him after his okay, pressing against him as he throws an arm around her shoulders, pulling her in close.

She holds the phone out in front of them and clicks a picture, or two, and then she's pulling away and thanking him again before running back over to where her mother sits waiting at a table in the corner. She mouths her thanks to Zed as her daughter comes rushing back to her, and Zed gives her a nod and little wave before turning back to Addison.

That look is back on her face again and he wishes he knew what it meant and he's so distracted trying to figure it out that when she tugs at one of hands, he's pleasantly surprised.

"Up for a walk in the park?" She asks.

He glances back over to the girl and her mother, and he can see the former typing away rapidly at her phone, surely posting the picture to Instagram and every other social media site possible. He rather not deal with a swarm of people today, and once his location was known, the possibility of that increased tenfold. Addison was more than enough for him and frankly, he didn't want their time cut short by fans.

Zed nods a second later, and she grins before pulling him out the door, never once letting go of his hand.

* * *

 _addison-smith posted a photo._  
[Selfie from Zed's side of him and Addison in a side hug, Addison sticking her tongue out at the camera, Zed smiling wide.]  
addison-smith: stranger danger

 _zed-the-zombie, ll bucky ll, elizzza, bree-sings, bon-zo and 4,034 others liked your post._

[30m] zed-the-zombie: shame you didn't have your whistle handy  
[28m] addison-smith: nah it's alright. i didn't need it  
[26m] addison-smith: this stranger was worth the time

 _zed-the-zombie liked your comment._

O

 _addison-smith posted a photo._  
[Wide-Shot of Zed and Addison on the couch together, Addison's head resting on his shoulder, her eyes closed; Bucky is reaching for a red solo cup from the corner of the frame.]  
addison-smith: contrary to popular belief, zombies are actually super warm

 _zed-the-zombie liked your post._

[12m] ll bucky ll: i can't believe you fell asleep  
[11m] ll bucky ll: at the biggest halloween party  
[10m] ll bucky ll: of the year.  
[9m] addison-smith: [ll bucky ll] shut up  
[6m] ll bucky ll: well  
[5m] ll bucky ll: at least you were comfortable  
[1m] addison-smith: i swear to god bucky the next time i see you  
[54s] ll bucky ll: #zaddisonlives  
[32s] zed-the-zombie: don't worry ads  
[24s] zed-the-zombie: he's just jealous he didn't have a zombie to sleep with

O

 _zaddison_updates posted a photo._  
[Shot of Zed and Addison from faraway, staring down at each other as they stand underneath a mistletoe in front of a bookstore, holding hands.]  
zaddison_updates: after months of speculation about what could be going on between [addison-smith] and [zed-the-zombie], we think the answer is quite clear. #sailingships #celebupdates #zaddisonlives

[33s] elizzza: is it though?

* * *

"I can't believe how much my posts have been blowing up," Addison says with a disbelieving laugh as she scrolls through her Instagram activity, taking in the growing number of likes on all of her recent posts.

Zed, whose walking in step next to her, shrugs, unbothered.

"It's been like that with mine too. Apparently the whole world loves us," he finishes with a wry chuckle and Addison nods her head absentmindedly.

"Bucky has been the worse," she says as they stop at an intersection, a flashing red hand stopping them from crossing. She scrolls through a few more things on Instagram before her phone dings, singling a text. Zed shifts from foot to foot, rubbing his hands together in an attempt to keep warm in the chilly evening air.

Addison sighs after reading the text, typing out a quick reply before pocketing her phone and rubbing her own hands together, shivering even underneath the two layers of clothing she's wearing.

"What is it?" He asks as traffic speeds past them, mufflers roaring, radios blaring stifled Christmas songs. Addison looks down, scowling.

"Eliza just texted. Someone took a picture of us outside Secondhand Books," she grumbles, shivering. Zed doesn't think twice as he moves in close and pulls her into a hug, Addison happily folding into his warmth. "Thanks," she whispers, and then, her voice growing louder, his arms still wrapped around her, "I just don't understand why everyone has to be in our business and know what we're doing every second of every day. It's frustrating _and_ an invasion of privacy."

Zed chuckles, but it's dry. "Privacy isn't a thing when you're a celebrity, Ads," he doesn't sound angry as he says it, in fact he sounds sad, and her heart pulls, aches for him.

Being a model meant she didn't get as much attention as he did. Sure, she had fans, younger girls who aspired to be as brave as her when they grew up, and she had her fair share of creeps from being a model too. Her acting roles were few and far between and both of her major break-out roles weren't set to release until this upcoming year.

Zed of course, being an actor and starring in two—soon to be three—highly recognized roles, meant more attention and less privacy. They're a long way from when they first met now, and she always sees the twist of his lips whenever he's stopped for a photo or an autograph. Sure he was a good sport about it and he was always a sweetheart to his fans, but his lips always twisted, and Addison always noticed.

The red hand turns into a white stick-figure and Zed gently pulls away from her so they can continue walking, but he keeps one arm tossed around her shoulders to keep away the cold. They look both ways before crossing the street.

"I don't know Zed," she says as they pass a group of Christmas shoppers, who are holding more bags than they should be able to carry, "sometimes I wish—"

"Me too."

An older gentleman dressed up in a Santa suit is waving a golden bell around ahead of them. A swaying bucket sits next to him on a pole, _Donations_ scrawled across the front of it. Both teenagers stop in front of it and before Addison can reach for her wallet Zed is pulling out his.

"I got it," he says to her with a smile before tugging free a clump of bills and throwing all of them into the bucket. The man looks shocked at the multitude of fifties and twenties he sees and stops ringing the bell momentarily so he can thank them before calling out, "Merry Christmas!"

"You too sir," Zed says as the man resumes ringing the bell.

Addison asks him about the money a block later.

"How much did you give him?"

Zed chuckles, glances over at her. "As much as I had on me. Couple hundred, probably. I hit the wrong button on the ATM this morning and was too lazy to put the money back in after."

"Wow," she draws out the last syllable, teasing, "talk about a millennial."

In retribution he tugs her closer and tickles her side. Her laughter fills the air and he's relentless, tickling her all over, and wrapping his arm around her waist when she goes to double-over. "Zed!" She tries to say but it's cut off by another laugh, and Zed laughs along with her until all of a sudden he stops and then spins her around.

She shrieks, caught off-guard, and by the time she's on her own two feet again he's grinning at her, and she's breathless. They stare at each other, and the mistletoe that was above the door of the bookstore comes to both of their minds.

It would be so easy to kiss and throw caution to the wind.

It would.

"I know the fame is hard sometimes," his voice breaks her of the spell and her eyes flicker up to his. They're so close to each other, and he's so warm, so intoxicating, and everything she wishes she had. He smiles and brushes a strand of windswept hair behind her ear, his fingers hot against her prickled skin. "But being with you makes it easy."

She wants to kiss him.

(He wants to kiss her too.)

* * *

 _zed-the-zombie posted a photo._  
[A bucket of popcorn in front of him, someone holding a bowl of vanilla ice-cream beside him and Stranger Things, Season One, Episode One's title card on the television in front of him.]  
zed-the-zombie: time to get this demo-show on the road

[4h] zed-the-zombie: update, ads doesn't like jump scares  
[2h] zed-the-zombie: update, ads stress eats when she's scared  
[1h] zed-the-zombie: update, ads swears she didn't jump into my lap  
[1h] zed-the-zombie: but she totally did  
[2m] zed-the-zombie: update, i am very much enjoying this show  
[1m] zed-the-zombie: and babe is not

O

 **TOP TRENDING**  
1\. Major Law Firm Under Fire after Extreme Allegations Revealed  
2\. New Stars Taking Hollywood by Storm  
3\. Massive Snowstorm Slams into East Coast  
4\. Addison Smith and Zed the Zombie—Are they Dating?

O

 _zed-the-zombie posted a photo._  
[Addison standing in front of him, hand on her hip, glaring towards the camera.]  
zed-the-zombie: hey gorgeous

[5m] addison-smith: you're lucky i like you

 _zed-the-zombie liked your comment._

[2m] zed-the-zombie: extremely lucky babe  
[1m] ll bucky ll: ugh get a room already

* * *

They don't kiss.

Instead a few more weeks go by and they dance around the subject of the two of them like it's fire. They go to another party with Bucky and a few of his friends, and though they stick close to each other's side, the tension between them is palpable and couldn't be cut through with a knife; or a chainsaw. Bucky even goes as far as pulling Addison aside and asking her what the hell is up because usually it's the two of them versus the world, not side-eye glances and enough tension to cut the entire room in half.

"I like him Bucky!" She cries out, keeping her voice low but the emotion behind her words causing the sentence to waver. "I really freaking like him and I don't know what to do. I don't want to ruin our friendship and scare him away." Bucky looks at her like she has three heads and she feels a little bit offended, "Why are you looking at me like—"

Bucky grabs both of her shoulders and shakes her like she's the most oblivious person in the world.

Which, right now, she is.

"Cuz, you must be blind. Zombie boy over there literally loves you."

"What? No, no he doesn't. He doesn't."

Her cousin raises an eyebrow, "I'm sorry, he doesn't? Are you an alien from another planet?" He exhales hard, pinching the bridge of his nose before his voice turns serious. "Addy the dude is literally in love with you, has been since the first time he saw you in person—possibly longer—and in case you didn't figure it out yet 'babe' and 'gorgeous' are a little bit more than just friendly nicknames."

She blushes, she feels like she always blushes when it comes to Zed, and Bucky turns her around so that she can see him, his eyes scanning the room, worry knitting his brows, music echoing all around them. "Just kiss him, Addy," Bucky says, exasperated. "You've got nothing to lose."

Addison chews on her bottom lip, torn. "Except for him."

* * *

 _zaddison_updates posted a photo._  
[Picture of Zed and Addison walking through the crowded streets, their fingers intertwined.]  
zaddison_updates: should we change our name? #poll #zaddisonvszeddison

 _zeddison_updates liked your post._

[1m] zeddison_updates: too late  
[20s] zeddison_updates: #zeddisonlives

* * *

"Zed?"

She catches his hand as they're leaving the movie theater, the crowd pushing past them as they come to a stop outside the theater.

"Yeah Ads?"

Her heart is hammering and her hands feel clammy. The moon is full and white in the nighttime sky above them, and stars are sparkling beside it, lighting up the city in a way the buildings never will.

Zed's hair is mussed in the back from leaning back in the chair and his cheeks are pink, his grey Adidas hoodie loose around his body and his sleeves still pulled up to his elbows. Her eyes drop down to his lips and the next thing she knows she's closing the short distance between them and pressing her lips to his.

He doesn't move for a moment and her heart seizes because what if he doesn't feel the same way? What if Bucky was wrong? What if he was just a natural flirt and all his playfulness and teasing was just that?

But then he's kissing her back and his mouth is opening and she sighs into the kiss, relieved. He tastes like butter and his lips still hold the sour-sweetness of the sour patch kids he had devoured during the end of the movie. One of her hands cups the back of his neck while the other rests on his chest, and his hands settle somewhere on her hips and it's pure bliss.

Abruptly someone accidentally hits Addison's shoulder with one of their shopping bags and the culprit doesn't even bother to apologize as they continue down the street, but the sudden jolt is enough to cause both eighteen-year-olds to break apart.

One of Zed's hands moves so he can cup her cheek as a smile breaks across both of their faces. "Gorgeous," he breathes, "you're amazing."

A disbelieving laugh escapes her because she can't believe this, can't believe they both want this, and it's the best feeling in the world, putting yourself out there and getting everything in return.

"And you're such a dork," she murmurs, but the words fall short as she kisses him once more.

* * *

 _addison-smith posted a photo._  
[Zed hugging Addison from behind as they stand in front of a store dressing room mirror, his arms loosely wrapped around her, her head tilted up as they kiss, her phone's flash reflecting off the mirror.]  
addison-smith: zeddison

 _bree-sings, ll bucky ll, elizzza, bon-zo and 7,479 others liked your post._

[5m] zeddison_updates: [zaddison_updates] told you so


	16. At Peace (drabble, tumblr transfer)

~Author's Note~

Like I said, I've been writing, but it's been mostly over on tumblr because I suck. I'm thinking I'm going to bring some of those stories over here so that everyone's caught up on both sides? I don't know, I have a lot of ideas, some prompts on here and in my ask box over there, so honestly, who knows what will end up happening. I'm so unpredictable...

If you're interested in something a little more...mature...there was a secret Santa exchange over on tumblr for zombies that just finished up Christmas week, so I do have a separate zeddison one-shot posted if anyone's interested in that ( _title: suddenly the sky erupts_ ) so feel free to check that out if you'd like!

Thank you guys for the reviews, hopefully everyone enjoys this one, and JustThatGirl, so glad you're still around! When I saw your review I literally couldn't stop smiling because I totally thought I'd never see you again since it's been so long since the last update! :)

* * *

 **Prompt:**  
 _Addison's New Necklace_  
 **Notes:**  
 _None._

Genre: Romance  
Rating: G

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* * *

 **16**  
At Peace

* * *

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She finds herself staring in the mirror, running her finger over the purple rock hanging from around her neck.

Its not heavy, in fact it weighs less than a stack of homework from her math teacher, and it hasn't glowed again.

It had only glowed once, when Wyatt had plucked it from their cave, handing it over to her with a sly smile that was almost caring, but mostly devious. She hadn't noticed, too enthralled by the light emitting from the stone, Willa and Wynter watching a few steps away, their arms crossed, shoulders touching.

Their expressions were unreadable as Wyatt had taken a step towards Addison, offering her a silver chain; she had no idea where the chain came from.

She had nodded anyway and turned, allowing him to fasten the rock to the chain before bringing it around her neck. As soon as the rock had touched her skin, her heart had thumped faster, and her skin had grown warmer.

Wyatt was smiling when she had turned back around with one hand touching the rock, and it was like he knew something she didn't. "Welcome to the pack, Addy," he had whispered, and something inside of her finally clicked into place.

"Ads? You in here?"

She jumps and whips around, her hand quickly falling to her side.

Zed smiles wide when he sees her. His eyes immediately go to the new rock around her neck as he approaches and his brows furrow as he lifts a hand up and runs a thumb down the middle of the smooth stone.

"Where did this come from?" He asks, his hand sliding down to intertwine their fingers.

"Um, my-my mom found it, up in the attic."

She doesn't think he'll buy it, because he knows her too well, can stop her from lying before the lie's even tumbling from her lips. But he must be distracted or have something else on his mind because he just shrugs and lifts his other hand up to brush away a strand of white hair from her forehead.

Smiles.

It's that smile he only uses with her, the one that makes her feel all giddy and like there's a billion butterflies swarming in her stomach, fluttering all at once.

It's the one that usually makes her heart stutter and skip a beat, but right now all it's doing is making her heart ache. She just lied right to his face and even after, oblivious to the lie or not, the love he has for her is staggering.

It's always staggering.

"Good find," he says, bringing her closer, "I think it's very pretty," he pauses, seems to debate what his next words will be. He looks nervous and confident all at once and then blurts the words out.

"Just like you."

She giggles—of course she does, gosh, she sounds like a lovestruck teenager—and his smile grows larger.

The rock seems to hum over her chest and as a warm feeling spreads throughout her skin, like it had earlier, Zed breaks the moment between them by clearing his throat. If he wasn't a zombie, she's sure his cheeks would be on fire.

"Uh, Bucky sent me in here to find you. Practice is starting," he chuckles, more to himself than her. "Guess you're gonna be a little later than usual."

Addison smiles, "I don't mind."

Zed swears he's never going to stop smiling as he finally tugs at her hand and they both exit the locker room, and if the stone around Addison's neck glows just once as they head back to the gymnasium, a flash that she's barely able to catch out of the corner of her eye, it only reminds her of the feeling she had back in the werewolves' cave, and how she feels like everything clicks into place when Zed's beside her, holding her hand, and that's a feeling stronger than any other.


End file.
